Secure government messaging: 5 ways to enable it

Governments across the world are digitalizing their services to better connect and serve citizens. To cater to the evolving demands, they rely on text messages for internal and citizen communication. 

Security is of utmost importance as they often deal with sensitive information regarding public safety, military, and diplomacy. 

Reports show that global ransomware attacks have increased by 95% in 2023. Specifically, in government agencies, cybersecurity attacks have increased by 40%. So, there is a need for secure platforms for government messaging. 

Let us understand how you can build a secure messaging platform for military messaging, digital public service delivery, citizen communication, self-service, etc.

Communication in government vs citizen communication

Government departments must collaborate and exchange files, data, and information to be able to deliver efficient services. 

A significant portion of employees and civil servants operate outside traditional office settings. In that case, they need a reliable platform to communicate with their counterparts. 

On the other hand, government departments need a secure citizen engagement platform to exchange information, improve their accessibility to public services, promote personalization and self-service, and improve transparency in the process. 

How can you enable secure messaging in government?

You must follow some steps to build a secure messaging platform for government communication. Such as: 

1. Security as the top priority

Government departments often deal with sensitive information related to diplomacy, national security, intelligence, and more, so they remain a natural target for hacking and spying. 

Whether it is about military messaging or citizen communication, security is of utmost importance when it comes to government chat platforms. 

A. Two-factor authentication

Data exchanged through the communication platforms must be promptly encrypted at rest and in transit. 

As noted in the federal zero-trust strategy, the platforms must use two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized logins from weak passwords. ‍

B. Customizable access controls

Communication platforms must also have robust authentication and access controls. Employees' roles, responsibilities, permissions, and accessibility rights must be clearly defined, and they must be held accountable. 

So, choosing an appropriate communication platform with customizable user access control is highly important. 

C. On-premises deployment

As government departments deal with sensitive data, they prefer to keep the data in their control and exercise sovereignty. 

So, choosing a platform that offers both cloud and on-premises deployment also helps strengthen government cybersecurity. 

Also, choose one that can be deployed even in air-gapped collaborative environments. 

2. Interoperability with other apps

Government departments use many different applications to execute different tasks. 

The communication platform must integrate with other government systems and applications such as email servers, document management systems, project management tools, citizen relationship software, vendor management systems, and other. 

A. Open source platforms

The platform should also be compatible with the existing IT infrastructure. The best bid is to choose open-source platforms that offer robust APIs and properly documented developer resources. 

APIs help achieve seamless integration with other applications and systems. 

B. Higher scalability 

Choosing a platform that offers a higher degree of customization and scalability through extensions and plugins also helps promote interoperability with other existing applications. 

This allows the platform's functionality to be easily extended to cater to the specific needs of the departments. 

C. Mobile compatibility

While choosing a communication platform, check for its mobile compatibility. It is better to choose one that has a well-functioning mobile application so stakeholders can communicate on the go. 

3. Cross-organizational communication

Government agencies often work on projects that require collaboration between different departments. Experts and specialists from different organizations may also be involved in different projects. 

In that case, communication platforms must be able to promote collaboration across different government departments. 

A. Group messaging 

The communication platform must have abilities like group messaging, threaded conversations, message tags and labels, etc. These features help promote quicker exchange of ideas and accelerate decision-making. 

They also help manage projects efficiently, share timely updates, and promote a transparent line of communication between organizations/ departments.