Securing business communications in a post-Covid world

The current pandemic has changed our world beyond all recognition, forcing us to urgently adapt ‘old ways’ and prioritize safety above all else. In business terms, this has translated into the acceleration of remote working and digital transformation, prompting a greater reliance on digital communications, governed by the need to avoid physical contact wherever possible. 

In the Netherlands last spring, for example, an emergency ordinance was issued stating that all law firms and bailiffs were, from then onwards, encouraged to use secure email for communication, instead of physical faxes and letters, for at least the duration of the Coronavirus pandemic. This initiative reflected the enforced shift to working from home, where most people do not have a fax machine or the ability to send large packages of documents. Secure email is a fast deployment alternative to faxes and postal mail, enabling the safe transfer and exchange of personal information within digitally signed, legally binding documents. (Since the new ruling’s introduction, more than 70 percent of all lawyers have started using Zivver’s secure digital communications platform to comply.) As a result of this change, the annual cost savings anticipated by replacing fax, letters, and couriers with secure email across the Dutch Judicial System is approximately £2 million.

Tentative steps towards a ‘new normal’