When your job is unlocking knowledge from various systems across an organization, a natural question is whether you’re giving the keys to the wrong people.

Companies should be careful with powerful technology – and businesses should be diligent in keeping their architectures secure. However security should not come at the expense of sharing information that can move your business forward.

When you’re considering enterprise search, five simple steps can help you ensure that the only people who see the information are those who have permission to see it, and help to reduce the security challenges associated with moving data.

  1. Check to see if your enterprise search provider indexes security along with the content of the systems being searched. Generally more advanced enterprise search vendors will do this.
  2. Learn the differences and benefits of early-binding versus late-binding security, and verify if your enterprise search provider offers one or both. (Early binding is faster and more secure.)
  3. Conduct a pilot or proof of concept with a limited number of users to validate that secure information is stored securely, If you’re just getting started with your enterprise search program. This step may involve some clean-up, which should be done. Security by obscurity is not a strategy.
  4. Educate employees about information security needs and alleviate their concerns when you index their email. Often, employees and managers are concerned about email search, until they understand that only they will see their emails. Executives learn that just because they can see secure information, doesn’t mean everyone can see it. Their permissions, and the security inherent in each system, enable this.
  5. Stop moving data. Employees who move data may not be aware of security implications. They may just be trying to make their own lives easier by moving and storing information they use frequently. This is a challenge that advanced enterprise search technologies alleviate, by removing the need to move data. Highly advanced enterprise search applications allow users to access whatever they need—and have permission to access—directly from the source, instantly.

Knowledge management pros – are you concerned about security? For information on how to keep your information secure, check out our approach.