Having a well-constructed knowledge management system is one of the central components to a healthy 21st-century company, but putting one in place can raise some significant concerns for certain types of companies. If the company deals with sensitive customer data, or if information confidentiality is essential for maintaining a competitive edge, there is no room for failure. Security breaches can mean significant profit losses, lawsuits, shutdowns, and hindered productivity. So when building infrastructure for a knowledge management system, it is crucial to keep security in mind. Here are a few factors to consider.

Hierarchy

In many types of companies, there is good reason to arrange knowledge management systems in a hierarchical manner to ensure that information is available only to those members who have reason to be given access to it. For example, it’s often a good idea to keep most sensitive customer data hidden from lower-level employees who have no use for it. And for people who work higher up in the company, it’s sometimes safest to simply remove their access to unnecessary information to make data breaches that much harder.

Trust

As part of creating the hierarchy for the knowledge management system, the company needs to consider which employees should have access to the system and which should not. This can be a difficult choice, as it’s important not to alienate employees by restricting their access to information that might be useful. In any case, it’s a good idea to work with an outside consultant to determine who should have access to what. This way, there is no bias from within the company.

Continuous Change

Security systems that stay in place unchanged are at greater and greater risk of a data breach as time goes on. This is simply because anyone who wishes to break into the knowledge management system gets more time to figure out a way. That’s why it’s a good idea to have systems in place that continuously change credential information. Static passwords are convenient, but they can also be insecure.

Monitoring

When a knowledge management system is not monitored, data breaches can happen in secret, and it may be months or years before the problem is discovered. That’s why there should be at least one staff member tasked with monitoring the system for signs of data breaches. Many companies assign this to the IT department, who monitor the security of the knowledge management system as part of their daily routine checks.

Swift Response

It’s important to have plans in place so that everyone knows how to respond when there is a breach of the knowledge management system. When a breach occurs, the difference between a close call and disaster can be a matter of minutes. So everyone needs to know exactly what to do and how to do it if that moment should arise. Make all the plans in advance, run tests, and make sure every employee knows what to do in the event of a data breach. And when it does occur, get the word out right away so that everyone can take the appropriate action.