Maintaining information security within an organization without impeding operational efficiency requires a secure communications strategy for all business processes. Building workflows with end-to-end encryption (E2EE) provides a safe and secure way to execute tasks timeously without exposing any critical information to unauthorized entities during internal and external communications.
Building E2EE workflows is easier than you think if you deploy the right tools within the organization. Below, we discuss why you need to build E2EE workflows using secure communications throughout all of your operations and how you can use Wickr to achieve this.
What Are E2EE Workflows?
E2EE workflows use encryption to secure all information passing between departments, individuals, and external parties. As workflows guide users to complete specific tasks according to a schedule, they’ve become essential for managing operational efficiency. If you don’t secure these task-based exchanges of information within an E2EE network, it could expose the data to anyone who gained unauthorized access to the IT systems.
Encryption works off a master key that initiates and secures a communication chain between two or more nodes within a network. In most of today’s messaging apps, E2EE comes standard and many users will only use a messaging system if it has these capabilities. In organizations, however, adopting similar solutions for workflow management isn’t as common. While these solutions exist, functional models and successful implementations are still lacking in public and private organizations.
Here is why most E2EE workflow implementations fail:
- A lack of understanding of how data encryption works and how to administer the solutions used for encrypted electronic communications
- An organizational failure to identify and remedy gaps in the security perimeter of networks used for communication
- Selecting technologies that cannot integrate with existing business systems and increase the technical debt by locking the organization into a specific set of tools
With Wickr, you can overcome these challenges and customize your workflows according to your needs without compromising on information security.
How Wickr E2EE Workflows Work
Wickr is a platform that provides Unified Communications (UC) across your technology stack with E2EE as standard. Instead of replacing your systems with E2EE solutions, you can enhance your current business applications by deploying Wickr as an underlying communication layer to secure all your workflows.
Wickr Bots are the integrations that enable you to deploy E2EE across your technology stack and secure all your attachments, files, and messages from your centralized admin panel. If you already use a workflow engine in your operations, you can extend its capabilities to include E2EE for every communication chain and file transfer using a Wickr Bot.
What Wickr Bots Can You Use To Encrypt Your Workflows?
Wickr has example bots that work with ZenDesk, Google Calendar, Hubot, and others. The Wickr IO Integration framework makes it possible for you to build your own integrations and maintain these information exchanges within your Wickr network. By using these integration capabilities, you can:
- Secure all organizational information from the network layer to the application layer
- Ensure only authorized users can access and decrypt the files shared between employees and external entities
- Administer and control access to all organizational information from a central admin panel
- Deploy and update new integrations to streamline operations using the tools your employees are already familiar with
You can also allow teams to collaborate securely using rooms and conversations that span your company’s contact lists. When you need to share information with an external entity, a quick invite will provide them with the same secure communication chain and you can set expiration dates, BOR limits, and share links to third-party file storage systems like Box, iCloud, or Dropbox.
The Benefits of End-to-End Encrypted Workflows
Data privacy remains a concern for individuals and organizations alike. When you send information over a network, the risk that a packet sniffer tool can isolate and extract critical data is very real. With E2EE encryption, this information stays secure both at rest and in transit, giving organizations the ability to prevent extracted data from being accessible even once it exits the network.
To break the encryption on a communication chain will take trillions of years and therefore, you can ensure the security of all your data regardless if you transmit it internally or over a public network. The ability to set destruct rules to erase information after it reached the intended recipient means every workflow exchange remains protected until it’s no longer required.
Why Use Wickr for E2EE Workflow Exchanges?
Wickr provides organizations with a UC platform that secures all communications between users while allowing for easy integrations with your preferred business software. As information security is a critical concern for all organizations, using E2EE workflows for all data exchanges will become essential to protect your business from snooping individuals or bad actors.
For more information about securing your business information using E2EE workflows, reach out to Wickr today.