In an era where data breaches dominate headlines and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, protecting regulated communications is no longer just IT concern, it’s a requirement for protecting trust, ensuring compliance and upholding customer confidence.
As CISO at OSG, my role is to embed security into every layer of our communications infrastructure. This means looking at security every step of the way – from data intake to multichannel delivery and long-term archiving. It’s about proactively building a risk-aware culture, a secure technology ecosystem, and governance that anticipates tomorrow’s compliance needs.
Here are the top five strategies I believe every security leader should prioritize in their Customer Communications Management (CCM) systems or expect from their CCM partner, to safeguard regulated communications:
- Build Governance into the Entire Communication Lifecycle
Safeguarding communications starts with governance. From how data enters your systems to how it’s processed, formatted, delivered, and archived. Each stage must adhere to strict information management policies.
At OSG, we apply rigorous governance protocols across data ingestion, document creation, output management and archiving. This includes encryption, access logging, approval workflows, and version control. But perhaps more importantly, we align these controls with our clients’ business objectives, so security doesn’t become a bottleneck, but rather is an enabler.
- Align Communication Platforms with Regulatory Requirements
The right technology foundation is essential and should be aligned with evolving regulatory requirements. Whether you’re dealing with CCPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, or FINRA guidelines, your communication systems need to support retention policies, customer consent, and access controls by design.
OSG JourneyConnect®, our communication orchestration platform, was purpose-built for regulated industries. It gives us the flexibility to meet specific regulatory needs for our clients, while maintaining agility and customer-centric delivery.
As a print service provider, we need to ensure platforms meet today’s rules and are built to adapt to tomorrow’s so our customers stay ahead of the curve.
- Implement Role-Based Controls and Policy Enforcement
Security often breaks down at the human level. That’s why clear roles, permissions, and policies are essential, across tech systems and team processes.
We enforce role-based access across our communication ecosystem and routinely audit permissions that our clients have access to. We also train internal teams on compliance standards, data handling procedures, and how to identify red flags.
A strong security culture, backed by system-enforced controls, dramatically reduces the risk of exposure or misuse.
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Enable Multichannel Delivery with Centralized Oversight
End customers expect to receive important communications where it’s most convenient for them, but from a compliance standpoint, traceability and consistency need to be maintained no matter the channel.
Our orchestration engine ensures every regulated message, regardless of channel, is tracked, logged, and stored with delivery metadata. This gives our customers confidence in their customer outreach, and gives auditors the proof they need when it matters most.
Multichannel delivery should never mean a loss of control. Whether they’re your systems or your partner’s, they need to be built as the connective tissue that keeps things consistent.
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Use Intelligence to Monitor Risk and Adapt Proactively
Security is a moving target, rather than in a static state. Today’s risks don’t wait for quarterly reviews, which is why we leverage real-time insights and predictive analytics from OSG JourneyConnect Orion, our AI engine, to monitor communication health, detect delivery anomalies, and flag patterns that may indicate emerging risks or compliance gaps.
This data keeps our clients compliant and helps them continuously improve. Whether it’s reducing failed deliveries or identifying customer friction points, the intelligence garnered helps our customers act before a small issue becomes a major one.
Final Thoughts
As CISO, I view safeguarding regulated communications not just as a security objective, but as a strategic mandate. At OSG, we see this as a strategic commitment to our customers in these regulated industries. One that we meet through strong governance, secure platforms, and continuous vigilance.
If your organization is looking to strengthen how it secures regulated communications, let’s connect. The risks may be high, but with the right strategy, the path forward is clear and secure.
