Benefits

• Reduced management effort
• Faster integration results
• Greater synergy value captured
• Real-time view of activity and results
• Higher-quality planning based on better data
  

Security

How Integrator protects your most sensitive data

For most corporations, M&A is the most sensitive activity it will engage in. Integrator’s built-in technical security has been audited and vetted by e•know’s most demanding blue-chip corporate customers. These organizations have been trusting e•know with their most sensitive strategy, operations, human resources, competitive, compliance, and legal information since 1999, and on Integrator since 2000. (e•know’s technical security measures are summarized below.)

Paradoxically, excellent technical security is wholly inadequate. Studies repeatedly show that most data compromises are actually executed by the victim organization’s own members — not by hacking, but by exploiting legitimate or semi-legitimate access gained as an employee or contractor. These acts can be motivated by financial gain, but also by an external alliance, a dispute with the organization, or a perceived need for retribution. According to many experts, these are the most critical vulnerabilities. Yet they are simply not addressed by automated measures such as firewalls and intrusion detectors.

To help mitigate against even these risks, Integrator first provides basic methodological security advantages over traditional tools and communications. Second, Integrator provides powerful but simple, point-and-click access-control features that even non-technical PMO managers can administer to protect merger information. Add, remove, increase, or decrease access, for anyone, at any time. Control access to Dashboard, pages, iMemos, documents — even individual data fields. All from your PMO Admin dashboard.

Below is a summary of Integrator’s key security features. But for special security requirements, please call your e•know team. Custom and specialty security provisions are routinely implemented for e•know customers.

Methodology security advantages

The mere switch from e-mail and spreadsheets to Integrator automatically confers a number of fundamental security advantages that cannot be ignored:

• Automatically restricts access on need-to-know basis
• Avoids circulating unsecured spreadsheets
• Virtually eliminates e-mail sent to unintended recipients
• Reduces e-mail traffic of sensitive text and attachments
• Sessions are not vulnerable to packet-sniffing, etc.
• Access can be instantly revoked for terminated users
• Reduces vulnerabilities to disgruntled or ex-employees
• Integrator servers are not administered by your employees

Having switched from traditional tools and communications to Integrator, you will also want to know that Integrator itself, its dashboard, data calls, and other components are extremely secure. In fact Integrator is secured on at least six levels:

User Authentication: the first line of defense

• User must have an account to access the system
• User account and password required to access dashboard
• Password required to open data call forms
• Password required to link from alerts to details
• Password required to continue after a time-out
  
  

Password Security Options

• Auto-expiring
• Required / prohibited patterns
• Auto-lock-out after N failures
• Random password generation
• Password e-mailed only to team member in database
• New random password generated when original is forgotten
• Require user to change e-mailed password
  
  

Role- and Profile-based Access Control: the second line of defense

Integrator’s access control framework is almost completely automatic, but almost infinitely flexible.

• Control access based on team, role, ownership, or identity
• Site-level access control
• Dashboard navigation items visible to user: controlled by role
• Page-level access control
• Create new database entries: Controlled by role
• Add, remove, update documents? Controlled
• Add new team members? Only Team Leads and above
• Add new team leads? Only PMO and above
• Even menu options in forms (task status, etc.) can be controlled by role!
  
  

Network and Session-level Security: the third line of defense

• Dashboard sessions encrypted
• Data calls (iMemos) all encrypted
• Alerts (links to details) all encrypted
• File transfers encrypted
• Database encrypted on the hard drives
• Non-secure public ports: all closed
• In-bound mail to server: disabled
• Stateful packet inspection
  
  

System Security: the fourth line of defense — rock solid

• Database immune to SQL hacks
• Continuous intrusion detection
• Continuous virus scanning
• Cross-site scripting vulnerabilities scrubbed
  
  

Redundancy and Back-up: the fifth line of defense — leaves nothing to chance

• Hot back-up to spinning media every 8 – 12 hours
• Off-site secure back-up every week
• Redundant power, PSU, connectivity, cooling, CPU
• 8-way Xeon CPUs with error-corrected memory
• 8-drive RAID with mirroring, striping, and parity
• Production fail-over server running 24/7
• Heartbeat monitors check system responsiveness constantly
• Problems generate escalating text messages to e•know support
  
  

Facility and Physical Security: the sixth line of defense — industry-leading

• Major, protected, remote facility
• A primary facility of the world’s largest telecom providers
• Exclusive named-individual control list to access facility
• Locked, anonymous server cage and equipment
• No third-party access to equipment
• Only two individuals (for redundancy) can have administrative access
• Any change in the access list immediately triggers notification to e•know senior management