Automating a more secure future with robotic processes
Many large organizations are not only worried about disruptive effects of robotic process automation (RPA), but are denying its implementation due to perceived security risks. RPA mimics employees’ actions in a variety of business and IT applications, and organizations want to ensure that their tangible and intangible assets are secure – and governed by the right security models – before taking a leap towards process automation. Yet, as Bruce Schneier said,
Security is not a product, but a process –
In fact, increased reliance on the security features of RPA reduces the number of risks and repercussions caused by human factors; RPA is the first step to ensuring data and application security. Implementation of RPA lowers the security-related efforts associated with:
Passwords can make or break a company’s brand. There are always vulnerabilities associated with employees who have access to and privileges on critical applications within an organization. RPA acts as middleware software that automates secure communication between various applications, for example, in telecoms, reconciling the CRM subscriber feed and fraud management subscriber data or customer data updates. Misuse of customer data during such tasks creates an increasing level of vulnerabilities in customers’ data, such as identify theft, exposing payment and loyalty rewards information, or personal details, which can pose a threat directly or indirectly. So, while implementing business logic on applications and transferring inputs between them, it is crucial that during the ‘handshake’, there should be high security between processes.
The zero-touch environment of RPA is the first level of protection for information and application against breaches. Other factors that help achieve enhanced security levels are:
While RPA is primarily helpful in reducing cost and increasing productivity, it also ensures proper control of processes and mitigates security risks created by humans. With the right blend of process configuration, governance model, control center and credential vault, RPA can make the entire business and IT processes more secure and traceable. Opting out of RPA on the grounds of security concerns isn’t really an option!