Issue 3 2020

18 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 3 2020 , Protecting The Board Aprio Inc., North America’s most trusted provider of board portal software, announced that board meeting security has become a top board governance priority as cybersecurity risk grows. As Nasdaq reported in its outlook on Next Governance Management, “The demand to collaborate and share sensitive information in a protected environment is increasing, and we see this as a significant trend.” Filling this need is board portal software that protects board information from cyberattacks and provides tools for board directors to have discussions and participate in board meetings, all with the highest possible data security. Cybersecurity concerns about board directors data are rising fast among credit unions, banking, and financial organisations. The recent Capital One data breach in 2019 was one of the worst ever. A hacker accessed the financial and personal information of six million Canadians and 100 million Americans who had applied for credit cards since 2005. The troubling fact is that Capital One was just the latest in a series of massive data breaches in recent years that included Target, Home Depot, Yahoo, Equifax, Bank of Montreal, Simplii Financial, and Facebook. The 2019 breaches are among the largest of all time and they increasingly impact financial organisations. While headline grabbing data breaches so far have involved corporate data, board directors are taking notice as they are Cybersecurity has board directors protecting boardmeetings with board portal software. being held to account for cybersecurity related to both the organisation and the board. Credit union board leaders surveyed by CUES (Credit Union Executives Society) in the last six months report that cybersecurity ranks as the top board governance priority out of 12 topics that included risk management, CEO succession planning, and building board diversity. An additional survey question revealed that 88% of the participating credit unions use board portal software to safeguard board meeting information. “We’ve never before seen such heightened awareness around cybersecurity in our more than fifteen years of providing data protection to board directors,” commented Ian Warner, CEO of Aprio Inc. “Financial organisations are often on the forefront of risk management and board governance, and we continue to experience high demand for the Aprio board portal from credit unions, banks, and financial organisations across North America. Not all board portals provide equal security, and we’re fortunate to have long been leaders in this area.” Even boards with a board meeting software in place are advised to re-assess the security of their board portal software every few years. It’s best practice to evaluate if the board portal software in place conforms to the highest industry standards for data encryption and security controls, as well as providing two- factor authentication and remote locking and data wiping if a device is lost or stolen. The Aprio board portal offers these protections and a choice of international locations for secure data storage. In addition, Aprio considers how to protect board members from cybersecurity risk as they work, balancing convenient, mobile access to board meeting materials with the most robust technical methods to continuously protect the organisation’s data.