Security Measures Every Project Manager Must Implement

Every project has a lot of moving parts to consider, and it’s the project manager’s job to keep them all synchronized and moving forward toward the end goal. During the project planning process, security measures are often overlooked or neglected entirely.

To protect the integrity of a project, a project manager should ensure that proper procedures are followed to keep sensitive information secure. Here are security measures every project manager must implement.

Access Rights Management

Sometimes during the course of a project, certain team members require access to secure information that they wouldn’t otherwise have. When one of these situations arises, it creates a great opportunity to bring your Access Rights Software to the future. Project managers must ensure that team members are given access only to the data they require and nothing else.

For example, if one of the delegated tasks throughout a project is for one of the team members to pay contractors through PayPal, they may be given access to send money to pay for services, but not to look at the organization’s financial data or to send money to themselves. These types of measures are often required throughout public companies to protect the interests of the shareholders and prevent fraud.

Backup Data Regularly

Cloud technology allows for comprehensive teams from around the world to work together without stepping foot outside their doors. But what happens if the shared data is somehow lost or corrupted? Perhaps a team member accidentally deletes an important file from a shared folder or a breach impacts the integrity of the project files.

The project manager can help mitigate these circumstances by creating regular backups of the project progress, including all of the project management software used, conversations held via instant messaging services like Slack, and shared project files. That way, should an error occur, there is only a brief delay rather than losing all progress made.

It’s important for project managers to understand the cloud sharing program they use and what “regular backups” means to them. Generally speaking, cloud-sharing platforms like DropBox and Google Drive have regular backups in place to protect their best interests. That means if someone breached a Dropbox server and caused a data loss, they would have protocols in place to recover that data. However, if the breach occurred on your end, the same coverage may not apply. Thus, the onus falls on the project manager.

Strong Passwords

Encourage team members to use strong or encrypted passwords, storing them in a secure platform like LastPass or CommonKey. The ideal password is a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols reaching 10-15 characters. They should be randomized, rather than being tied to any personal information or spelling any commonly used words backward.

Passwords shouldn’t be shared amongst team members without express permission, and they should be shared through a secure password management platform. Additionally, team members should be encouraged to change the passwords on their computers regularly.

Education is Key

Finally, the most important security measure a project manager must implement is team member education. The project manager should identify what protocols are put in place and why they matter. Help your team identify suspicious links and activity that could result in the installation of malware. Let them know the repercussions of a breach, both in terms of the project as a whole and what it means for them specifically.

It’s estimated that a quarter of data breaches occur as a result of employee error or carelessness. A project manager can help the team avoid becoming a part of that statistic.

By taking basic steps toward better cybersecurity by managing access rights, retaining data for backup, and teaching employees to be smart online, a project manager can see a project through to completion without the worry of a security threat.