The biotech industry is one that relies on its ability to keep its secrets. As every project can lead to a new major discovery and that discovery to a new road of prosperity, security is paramount; companies cannot afford to let their secrets out. This has had an interesting parallel in discoveries in computer security and ways to keep communications between individuals as secure between people as possible. With all that we can do with computers, it is the way that we protect our secrets that is perhaps the most interesting technology currently going.
Why Security is So Important
Corporate communications in the biotech industry are somewhat problematic. A company has to balance the ability of those involved in its projects to communicate with each other but it needs to keep those communications away from prying eyes as much as possible. This can get all sorts of strange as companies try new things in order to maintain the tightest possible while at the same time not making them too difficult to successfully implement by its employees. This is why so many systems tend to be created like icebergs: The part you actually work is an extremely tiny part of the system itself. In general, this has been a successful practice.
How Security Really Works
People need to keep in mind that a password is but a tiny part of the system in general. The system itself needs to create a key based on the password, and that key is usually well hidden. The password needs to be as secure as possible in and of itself, which is why users are told to use more than just letters and numbers and not to use anything familiar to them; after all, hackers are more than willing to look through those for hints as to what the password may be. However, the password is just the key to a much larger house.
The computer server itself is essentially the house. Its software architecture needs to defend its secrets from outside sources. This is why you hear so much about firewalls: A firewall essentially separates a computer system from the outside and gives it a chance to verify that the correct user is logged in. However, the firewall also allows security a chance to do something should security be breached; this is why the best systems incorporate an actual person as part of the system. The system itself can be fooled and sometimes requires someone more geared to intuition than logic to ferret out an invader; the person can then destroy the firewall and thus kick the invader out.
What This Means For Communication
Obviously, a server has a host of security systems in play in order to maintain security. This helps to ensure that corporate communications in the biotech industry from companes like Lifesci Advisors are as secure as it can be; it is just a matter of ensuring that everyone knows how to implement that security. Ironically, this means that security relies on communication in order to ensure that the security of the communications works; good communication is the best way to keep them secret.
