Customer Service Cyber Security Tips

⏱ Reading Time: 5 minutes

Today you can find customer service teams in almost every business. Customer service representatives are responsible for developing strong relationships with clients and customers. However, the job of the customer service representative comes with a major responsibility. Oftentimes customer service teams deal with personal information from users and clients, and depending on the size of a company, the team can consist of a large number of people.

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Customer service teams are not always set up for success when it comes to cyber security, but there are ways team leaders can implement proper customer service cyber security safety precautions. Read on to find out how! 

Why is Customer Service Cyber Security Important?

In order to be successful, companies rely on consumer trust. Customers will only give their business to companies they trust, but also companies they trust to take care of their information properly. The minute customers feel insecure, they will take their business elsewhere. 

According to a study by CX Network on customer service and cyber security, employees in the industry understand that cyber security is very important and believe they are doing what they can to improve the security of their procedures. But, there is more to be done to get customer service departments up to date on cyber security best practices to prevent cyber crime damage. 

Some customer service teams push back on the idea of implementing practices to make their systems more secure. They believe that cyber processes could complicate the ease of use and user-friendliness of customer service systems in place. On the other hand, some teams are finding easy solutions, such as two-step authentication in order to increase data protection while preserving usability. 

Overall the biggest hurdles for customer service teams in making sure their department is being secure are dated infrastructure, small budget, and lack of knowledge. 

Customer Service Cyber Security Implementations

Customer service teams often make up a large portion of so many companies. Since these employees are at the forefront of protecting company data, it is important to ensure they are well versed in proper cyber security. Here are a few ways leadership members can implement positive change in their departments when it comes to cyber security.

Educate the Team

Some companies might assume that their employees must come equipped with the most recent cyber security knowledge. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. To make sure customer service teams are up-to-date on the latest and greatest in cyber security, running frequent and consistent company training on the issue is an easy way to combat the lack of knowledge customer service teams might have on data protection. 

Picture 1. Customer Service Cyber Security Education

Integrate With the IT Department

The IT department’s job is to know everything there is about cyber security, how to implement the best software, and how to roll this information out to the rest of the company. However, the IT department is only one team. It takes an entire company to protect company information. Customer service leaders and IT leaders should collaborate on goals and integrate best practices throughout the entire company. Since customer service is the frontline for safety and the IT department are the experts in the space, it’s only natural that the two teams should be more integrated.

Find User Friendly Implementations 

As mentioned, customer service is focused on making the user experience of their customers and employees seamless at all times. Customer service teams are pleased when their customers are happy. However, many teams are worried about cyber security implementation because a lack of safety could compromise their system’s ease of use. Teams who work for a service that has customer logins or requires customers to provide their personal information, need to shift their attention to how to keep this information secure. Thankfully, there are cyber security options that still preserve the ease of use. Systems that allow for two-step authentication keep customer info private from cybercriminals while also keeping the login process simple. 

Invest In Reliable Cyber Security Software

Cyber security software is a must when it comes to any company who wants to keep their software secure. Employees could change their passwords multiple times, but leaders will never be fully confident that the network is safe without at least one cyber security software in place. Customer service teams are investing in all-encompassing cyber security software suites, which is a great option. There are other options like anti-virus software, anti-malware software, and virtual private networks (VPNs). While the first two-act more like firewalls, VPN software acts more like a curtain. 

VPNs can hide an IP address to make it untraceable by hackers. If an employee were to travel and connect to an insecure WiFi, cyber criminals have the ability to connect to their device if it’s unsecured. A VPN ensures that your connected device looks like it’s not even there. 

Conclusion

Security is important for all companies that hold any customer data. Many corporations think implementing proper cyber security software is enough, however making sure the entire staff is well versed in online safety is also a must. For customer service employees, this is especially important since they are working with confidential consumer information regularly. Even though there are concerns with preserving the intuitive nature of customer-facing software, many teams are coming up with new ways to keep their systems safe and user-friendly.