It’s good to see you are taking the security of your financial data seriously. So are we.
As with any online system that stores your data and presents it to you via web applications, there are 3 areas that you should check are secured.
Security of data in transit
Can the data being transferred between the server and your computer be intercepted and read?
Security of data in storage
Can a would-be hacker gain access to the servers on which your data is stored over the internet or another network?
Physical security of data
Are the actual physical servers in a secure environment?
We attempt to address all of these concerns below. If you have a question that isn’t answered here then please feel free to email [email protected].
Security of data in transit
It is virtually impossible to stop a determined and knowledgeable individual to intercept data that is transferred between yourself and a server on the internet. However, it is possible to encrypt that data in such a way that it is unreadable to anyone or any machine apart from your computer and the server itself.
We use the same encryption techniques used by all major internet banking facilities and online e-commerce transactions. You will see a small padlock icon appear at the bottom of your browser when you register or login to your KashFlow account. This means that the data being transferred is encrypted using a 1024 bit RSA key. This encrypting method is referred to as SSL (Secure Socket Layers) and is currently the industry standard for encrypting transactional information on the internet.
Security of data in storage
The servers that power KashFlow are highly secure and are protected by an advanced firewall. The firewall and the servers are monitored 24 hours a day for any suspicious activity. So you can rest assured that even whilst you sleep your data is being actively protected. It would be easier to break in to your office to steal your accounting information than it would be to break in to our servers.
The only area of security for which we don’t have control of is your own computer.
It is important that you install a virus scanner and ensure that you keep it updated.
Physical Security of Data
We have chosen Rackspace as the provider of our servers based in London.
Not only are Rackspace the world’s leader in website hosting, boasting a zero-downtime network, they have a state of the art high security data centre built from the ground up, that includes keycard protocols, biometric scanning and round-the-clock surveillance.
For further piece of mind, only authorized personnel are granted access to the data centre, no one else can enter the production area of the data centre without prior clearance and an appropriate escort. All data centre employees also undergo multiple and thorough background security checks before they’re hired.
We also have a real-time backup at a data centre in the north of the country. So if there is a serious problem at the main data centre we can be back up and running in minutes with zero data loss. We like to brag about it because it cost us tens of thousands to set up!
For more information on Rackspace visit www.rackspace.co.uk
Is Data Safer on Your Computer Than on the Web?
There is a misconception that somehow data stored on your PC or Mac is more secure than data stored on a internet server. Actually, the reverse is true.
For a detailed explanation as to why, have a look at our blog post here.
