NEED SECURE CONTENT? JUST BE "SASSY!"

The topic of content security has long been at the front of our client’s mind as we all know … if a company doesn't get their security management right … a lot can be at risk.

In the past few years, 2Heads has been evolving our due diligence process to make sure we deliver the most secure experiences for our clients, whether this be at a physical or digital event. Part of this evolution has been fuelled by having clients in the security industry itself; a sector that has changed hugely these last few years as the cybersecurity landscape advances.

Until recently, most security was based around a network, with several pieces of technology available to keep each network secure. The main challenge with efficiently using this model arose when people started to use different devices to access that content and data from different locations. Everyone who has worked in events knows this as fact. We all have faced the torturous endeavour of logging into a VPN connection whilst trying to find a quiet workplace within a crowded Expo. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying this can be a very clunky way of working.

Leaders in the security industry then went on to use experts such as Gartner and Forrester Research to forge a new path. Developing technologies that move away from the "Moat and Castle Security Model," - home of the dreaded VPN – and are born in the Cloud, for the Cloud and focus on the user, rather than the tech itself. Music to the ears of all experiential, events, digital and marketing experts.

Gartner has defined this type of cloud-based multifunction service as SASE; pronounced "sassy". It stands for Secure Access Service Edge, and it is this model which is the future of keeping your content and marketing efforts secure, no matter where they are accessed from: an event, online, a phone, a festival, a plane, coffee house, restaurant … By calling for security to be enforced close to the users, SASE delivers a significantly superior experience to the older models that brought the user to the security.

The movement to a unified digital world is speeding up and there is an industry need to avoid securing marketing, event content and data in silos and focus on the coming revolution where we make our users secure first. The great news is that SASE vendors are finally here, and we are already partnering with this technology. The licence as a service model also comes with all the added benefits we appreciate here at 2Heads:

• It’s easy to use
• Fast to implement
• Non-disruptive
• Very economical
• Highly secure. 

We call it the ‘relax’ factor where everyone from client to end user can benefit from the intuitive security model.

In the last 12 months, we've seen how our clients are evolving to run more applications in the cloud as SaaS rather than on-premise and whilst more of our data lives in cloud centres, more of the workforce (especially professionals in marketing and events) are increasingly mobile. We are working off-site with mobility as the norm and using our phones, tablets and desktops remotely in a routine manner. Building a SASE structure around your events programme not only allows you to keep up with competitor brands, it will allow that mobility to continue securely, allowing you to plan for hybrid events and any returns to WFH situations.

The ultimate goal for us as your experiential and digital agency is to make it possible for our clients to network on any kind of resource, location or user without leaving the business vulnerable, and still provide a meaningful omnichannel brand experience.

Looking Ahead.

The move to building access models around identity - the user - does require efforts to move away from old access models based on IP addresses, but we feel the ends justify the means. As marketing and event professionals become part of their organisation’s digital transformation, we recommend you liaise with your agency and get advice on how to have a chat with your IT department. We are always happy to take 5 minutes so we can help you position this internally … after all, us events and marketing profs are not a silo, we too are a crucial part of the secure digital transformation. It’s something us 2Headers are passionate about and we are here to help you do it … even if it is with a bit of sass!

Ally Mansell-Cook

Originally published on the 2Heads website on 2nd July 2020: https://2heads.com/randd/content-security-tips