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2021 predictions for secure, compliant

unified communications

By Devin Redmond permanent "work from anywhere" environment pow-
Theta Lake ered by collaboration platforms and cloud-based ap-
plications will win out. Even in a post-pandemic 2021,
his year, the traditional office, as we knew it, the traditional office will be replaced by a hybrid of-
has become a thing of the past. In a world of fly- fice and remote collaboration-based workplace.
ing chat bubbles and video calls, today's office
T lives inside the four corners of your computer 4. Organizations will double usage of cloud-based
screen, testing technology in new ways. video conferencing and collaboration tools, result-
ing in more compliance violations. The majority of
Just like other industries, digital technologies have video users will turn on their cameras most or all of
been well established in financial institutions (FI’s)— the time—leading to video hosts suffering from un-
as the industry relies heavily on video, chat and intended incidents as their cameras capture inappro-
voice collaboration tools. The pandemic forced these priate events or controversial background scenes. This
organizations to rapidly increase collaboration-tool usage, will result in increased compliance violations.
which will be a constant in a post-COVID-19 remote work
environment. 5. Collaboration security will be a top priority for
government. Incumbent collaboration tools (Zoom,
This surge comes with a new set of challenges as FIs Teams, Webex) will get dragged into conversations
enhance their current technology to meet compliance about privacy law and big tech, further pressuring
and regulatory challenges or face brand-damaging them to stay on top of security and compliance capa-
consequences. 2021 will be a touchstone year for bilities. At least two regulatory agencies will make ex-
defining our new normal work environment and virtual plicit statements about regulatory obligations to retain
collaboration. How we secure it will be instrumental for and supervise collaboration conversations. Addition-
FIs to remain competitive and reliable. Here are my top ally, collaboration tools will replace many call center
predictions for FIs as they embrace modern collaboration. interactions and force organizations on related com-
pliance, privacy, and security risks.
1. New collaboration features such as person-to-per-
son payments will make security a headache. Col- 6. Collaboration-related personal injury lawsuits
laboration platforms will add new, dynamic features will crop up. A wave of court cases will arise involv-
at a furious pace that will make it more difficult to ing bad conduct and abuse within online meetings
monitor and configure security options. These plat- across video, voice and chat interactions. Public exam-
forms and APIs will facilitate new activities, like send- ples of sensitive, non-public, personal, and/or propri-
ing and receiving payments, that will further increase etary data exposed by employers, employees and/or
the risky and regulated activities on those platforms— customers during collaboration sessions across video,
forcing companies to increase the security and com- voice, and chat interactions will increase.
pliance of their API and integration features.
Industries and FIs of all sizes must embrace the new
2. Regulators will no longer show compliance-relat- normal and move toward a world of video calls and chat
ed leniency. The existing no-action letters allowing bubbles to keep teams connected. In 2021, we’ll likely see
for the adjustment to temporary work-from-anywhere FIs further adopt modern collaboration tools and the need
environments will lapse, and regulators will expect to keep security and privacy top of mind or face hefty
finance firms to adhere to communication compli- fines, security breaches or worse. Integrating collaborative
ance requirements even in remote workplaces that use solutions with security and compliance platforms will
collaboration tools. This will exacerbate fines and en- help alleviate compliance challenges and scale security
forcement actions, which will mount in 2021 for com- detection to teams of all sizes and calibers.
munication supervision failures, likely significantly
surpassing 2020 numbers. Devin Redmond is a two-time founder and multi-time public company
executive with 20+ years’ experience delivering security and compliance
3. The traditional office will permanently change. technology. He has helped leading, global software companies grow
Having all employees work in centralized offices for and innovate, including Check Point, Neoteris, Websense, and Nexgate
a full workweek has been forever altered by the pan- (Acquired by PFPT). A prolific innovator, Redmond holds two patents
demic-specific concept captured in the phrase "work and is a frequent speaker and press contributor as seen on CNN, CBS, in
from home." Instead the benefits and value of a more
Forbes, and at FinTech New York.
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