Who can you still trust?

As a translation agency, a large number of confidential documents pass through our hands every day. And not just through our hands, but also those of our translators and our DTP team. These documents often contain personal data and confidential business information. As an ISO 9001/ISO 17100 certified agency, we have been handling this carefully for years, thanks to stringent confidentiality requirements and processes.

This applies not only to how we handle what we read and translate, but also how that information is stored securely on our proprietary server and how we consistently delete all information entrusted to us within the set retention periods. That’s all well and good. But the world has changed.

Fast forward to 2023 – ………

Whereas a few years ago, a scammer could get away with stealing bank details and PIN codes through phishing and internet fraud via Nigerian princes, in recent years, they have turned to different and considerably better-organised methods.

Entire organised crime syndicates compete with the drug cartels both in size and effectiveness and, according to some estimates (United Nations), employ 1.5 million workers. The target audience is no longer the somewhat naive and gullible digital illiterate, but concerns a (one might assume) well-informed younger generation, industry leaders, governments and even data security consultants.

Voice and face changing AI applications, combined with translation services and stolen data, can sometimes mimic reality beyond recognition, making them many times more effective in snatching data, money and personal information. Even from those who think they have armed themselves against it.

Without trying to get political, if you add to this the fact that in some democratic countries it apparently no longer seems unthinkable that personal data can quite easily end up in the hands of unelected Tech billionaires, then the data protection cocktail is served pretty strong.

The changing playing field and what Translation Kings is doing with it… ISO 27001

As a leading translation agency and in our emphatic responsibility towards our clients, we continue to do everything possible to give our clients and employees the confidence that their data and other sensitive information is and remains in safe hands with us.

The decision to obtain the prominent and internationally recognised ISO 27001 certificate was therefore quickly made. After an intense period of evaluating and further improving processes, control measures, guidelines, encryption applications, and ICT reconfigurations for the purpose of data protection, we are proud to report that we have obtained ISO 27001 certification.

What does ISO 27001 certification entail?

ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security. It is a system of measures and controls to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. This standard ensures that your data is safe from threats such as data breaches, cyber-attacks or data loss.

An ISO 27001 certification means that we meet the strict underlying requirements and have implemented an effective Information Security Management System (ISMS). The certificate shows that we are serious about protecting sensitive data and comply with international information security standards.

Our ISO 27001 certification is critical to earn the trust of our clients, partners and other stakeholders in the knowledge that their data is handled securely and that risks associated with information security deficiencies are identified and mitigated in a timely manner.

An obvious advantage…

We work on behalf of governments, medical and technical service providers, financial institutions, lawyers, multinationals, SMEs and individuals. They entrust us with a wealth of information on a daily basis. Earning that trust, is not a given and something we will have to prove every day.

Knock on wood, but the fact that we have never breached that trust over the past 17 years is great and shows that our existing protocols have worked. But the world is changing greatly and it is changing fast. So fast, in fact, that the most renowned specialists themselves sometimes become victims of data breaches and cyber-attacks. It’s not enough to just sit around and hope nothing will ever go wrong.

Our clients deserve better. At a minimum, ISO 27001 is an important step in the right direction and we recommend not settling for anything less.