Another Softphone Security Breach Shows the Importance of Software Assurance

As·sur·rance - a positive declaration intended to give confidence, a promise.

Software maintenance and updates, often called software assurance, aren’t what most companies think about. And yet, when companies fail to realize the importance of software assurance, big problems can occur, like last week’s softphone security breach that affected millions of people.

As much as those in the technology industry talk about the importance of a shift-left approach to application development, it’s not enough to introduce security early in the development process. Security must be infused into the corporate culture so that technology providers respond quickly and appropriately when bad things happen (and, inevitably, they will happen).

This begs the question: What is a good security model for software developers? It resembles Mitel’s Secure Development Life Cycle, our comprehensive framework that ensures product security and data privacy through each product’s lifecycle. This framework includes effective governance, security practice standards and guidance, constant measurement, and continuous improvement. And the benefits of this methodology do not end with product development; it extends into our sales, services, and support organizations. In this way, we can assure our customers that everything we do as a company is aligned around product security and data privacy.

At Mitel, we think about software assurance a lot – not only for our internal processes but also on behalf of our customers. We’re reminded of just how imperative the latter is based on new communications and collaboration research from Metrigy. In studying the workplace collaboration strategies of 440 organizations globally, Metrigy found that only 37% of companies have implemented a proactive security strategy covering real-time and non-real-time applications and services. While 30.3% say they’re either developing or evaluating a security strategy, more than 30% of companies are approaching communications and collaboration security piecemeal.

“That so many companies continue to be so lax on communications security is a huge concern, especially given the far-flung nature of the hybrid workforce today,” says Irwin Lazar, President and Principal Analyst at Metrigy. “The threats aren’t going away, but rather they’re multiplying in line with new attack vectors, including meetings and team chat. Companies must put in place proactive security strategies that protect against attack as well as address risk management and compliance mandates.”

To that end, we also discuss security with our partners and customers so they understand the importance of protecting against the unexpected, proactively monitoring for threats, installing the latest patches and fixes, and contacting our support team whenever they have an issue. We publish security advisories, create videos about the importance of software assurance, and share our customers’ firsthand stories about the value that software assurance brings to their business.

And we back up that market intelligence with human intelligence. Mitel’s Product Security Incident Response Team is dedicated solely to helping customers solve and understand security issues, answer questions, and alleviate concerns. In most cases, we’ll give you an answer immediately because time is your most valuable asset during a security attack. The sooner you can identify and mitigate a threat, the more likely you are to minimize the cost and damage of that attack.

Mitel customers also benefit from our global network of partners, engineers, and customers who help us understand security issues and quickly take the proper remediation steps together. We encourage feedback and interaction with our customers and partners whenever a problem arises; security is everyone’s business, and the bigger your security net, the better chance you have of catching and stopping the bad guys.

Our commitment to software assurance can also be found in our latest software assurance (SWA) levels: Advantage SWA and Premium SWA. Both offer Mitel’s industry-leading protection, including 24x7x365 tech support, rapid response times, enriched performance analytics, automated security and functionality updates, APIs, full access to CloudLink Gateway, and real-time support during security incidents.

The truth is that even the best software assurance can’t guarantee you’ll never be attacked. What it can do is make sure you’re prepared and fully supported so that security attacks are deflected or mitigated before they negatively impact your business. If you don’t have that kind of confidence in your communications platform, maybe it’s time you talked to Mitel.