Websites and social platforms are the new storefront, and people are losing their keys!
Businesses with offices or physical storefronts put a lot of time and effort into curating their spaces, maintaining cleanliness, and keeping track of inventory, documents, records, and receipts.
If an employee were to lose the only key to the premises, locking everyone out for an extensive period of time, what would happen? The space would become dirty, employees would not have documents and information they need to do their jobs. It would be a headache and a mess for the company and owners, create problems they did not previously have and add tasks, such as calling a locksmith, to their already extensive to-do lists. it would, cause them to give up valuable time and money to fix the issue.
Digital media can be thought of the same way.
Essential Website Access
When done well, a company’s media gives the consumer a look into their brand and tells the exact story they want to portray. The frontend design of a company’s website (what users see and interact with) is very important, but it is also important to maintain control over the backend of the site (how everything works).
If backend control is lost, it can wreak all sorts of havoc. Part of maintaining control is keeping track of passwords, usernames, and login information. There are a handful of nightmare scenarios that can happen with the loss of these “keys” to digital assets.
For example, website themes need periodic updates to continue operating. If no one knows the website login, and updates are not made, that website could lose functionality, become vulnerable to hacking, and even go offline entirely.
In the event that the website went down and was not backed up, there would not be much anyone could do to recover it. The company may have to build their website over from scratch. This can be time consuming and expensive, but it is avoidable.
The Complexity of Social Media Access
Social media is an especially tricky asset to manage, as it includes multiple platforms with varied login information. On some social platforms, you even have to be mindful of who is creating the accounts. LinkedIn, for example, automatically makes the personal profile of whoever creates the account a Super Admin, meaning they have control over everything on the page. Paying attention to who is in these roles, and what permission sets they have, is another digital asset management task to remember.
Our firm has spent many hours over multiple weeks tracking down and wrestling control of websites, social media pages and domain names for clients who didn’t realize their assets were at risk. In more than one case, the only alternative was to create new pages with less-satisfactory names than the originals, while the abandoned pages remained visible.
We would much rather spend our time creating productive content for clients than playing password detective.
Digital Locksmiths Don’t Exist
As an agency that handles passwords of our own as well as client login information, we recommend a system of recording all login information as soon as accounts are created or updated.
There are many factors that can contribute to losing track of digital assets, such as staff turnover and internet hackers. However, a methodical approach to keeping track of all of these factors will ensure the keys to the office are not lost.
We advise businesses take these steps to minimize risk:
-Understand the maintenance needs of all digital assets.
-Track personnel’s authorization and access levels across platforms.
-Record all login information at the time of creation and upon each update.
-Cross-train team members so no one person has exclusive access.
How We Can Help
Each day, digital media security measures are tightened by platforms as bad actors get savvier and more persistent. That means there is no better time than the present to take inventory and preventive measures.
A trusted agency can conduct a digital review or audit to ensure the needed controls and access are available.
