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Nicole Layne, Vice President of Technology, Flow.

‘Information security of paramount importance’

As the world observes Safer Internet Day today, corporate entities in Barbados are being encouraged to make better use of technologies, standards, policies and management practices to ensure better information security.

“In today’s high technology environment, organisations are becoming more and more dependent on their information systems. At the same time, the public is increasingly concerned about the proper use of information, particularly personal data,” said Nicole Layne, Vice President of Technology, Flow.

“The threats to information systems from criminal elements are also increasing, and from our perspective as Barbados’ leading telecoms provider, we are now seeing many large companies identifying information security as an area of their operation that needs bolstering,” added Layne.

“Securing information is vital and companies, especially in the commercial sector, are now really beginning to wake up to this reality because much of the value of their business is concentrated in the value of their information. At the end of the day, information is a clear competitive advantage and securing that information is now a critical task.”

Layne said the resources a company employs in securing its information is dependent on a number of factors including its size, along with the scope and nature of its business.

“Every individual that interacts with a company’s information – from a potential customer, to the managing director, to the malicious hacker – will make their own positive or negative contribution as it relates to the integrity of the organisation. This interaction also affects every structural aspect of an organisation and a gap in the fence can be very costly,” she said.

“The collection of influences to which each organisation is exposed varies and the information technology that it uses, its personnel, the area in which it does business and its physical plant location all directly contribute to the protocols on information security.”

As far as Flow’s interaction with its customers, Layne said the company took information security very seriously and treated it as a priority in its day-to-day operations.

“In terms of interacting with the Barbadian public, there are maybe only one or two companies with a larger footprint than Flow, and with this privilege comes great responsibility. As a result, we never ask our customers to verify sensitive information, such as their full account number, username, password or national ID number via any personal electronic transmission or outside of a secure online portal,” she said.

“We also have a very detailed privacy policy section on our website at www.discoverflow.co and further information can be found there on protecting personal information. With billions of interactions happening on our network every day, Flow takes information security very seriously and we are committed to protecting our customers, stakeholders and the general public.”

Barbados Advocate

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