The spotlight for content security is typically shone on the major studios, yet it plays an equally important role for all individuals and organizations along the entire media and entertainment supply chain. While content security preparedness used to be a side conversation or purely reactive on a case-by-case basis, my weekly discussions with industry peers show that cyber security and resilience are becoming even more prioritized. It’s now becoming a mindset, especially since it concerns one of our most valuable pieces of intellectual property and assets in the media and entertainment industry: our content.
Establishing a security foundation positions companies to achieve goals and drive business growth more quickly. Following best practices serves as a framework and benchmark, offering guidelines for securely storing, processing, and delivering protected media and content from script to screen and cloud to ground. Security assessments (whether conducted internally or by a third party) provide an audit of a service provider’s information security management implementation, physical and digital content security, software development practices, content handling, and more. Service providers often consider themselves stewards of their clients’ content and offer the client peace of mind by prioritizing security controls. Knowledge is valuable, and we’ve architected a centralized system around content security preparedness. Let’s look closer at a critical component of the media supply chain: localization. As more and more consumers worldwide access content daily, there has been a growing demand for high-quality, engaging, and language-specific content.
Localization is becoming more complex, and what was once considered an afterthought is now making its way earlier in the content production process. Localization service providers often handle sensitive content and intellectual property daily. Being engaged, dedicated, and vigilant in maintaining the security of original content and preventing unauthorized access, piracy, or leaks is front of mind.
I recently chatted with several global localization service providers for their media- and entertainment-market content security perspectives. VSI, a global localization company, puts security at the forefront of everything it does. London-based VSI COO, Cornelia Al-Khaled, spoke with me about their approach to content security and the measures and strategies put in place to protect their customers’ content.
“We meet our challenges by proactively investing in technology and resources to satisfy security requirements, by continuing to regularly carry out our own internal audits, and by ensuring we always adhere to industry best practices,” said Al-Khaled. VSI has established workflows and guidelines that ensure all aspects of security are maintained – whether it’s regarding the security of physical or digital assets, overall infrastructure, restricted access to sensitive information, confidentiality agreements, workflow, and isolation of data – as well as providing stringent security training for its teams. “We have always taken our security and the content our clients entrust us with very seriously,” continues Al-Khaled.
The media environment is changing rapidly as the demand for content and platforms evolves. With the growth of work-from-home, remote, and cloud/on-premises hybrid workflows and continuous data movement between so many users, what is an ideal approach for localization companies to keep all versions of content secure? The need to ensure the security of content and data is paramount. Any company touching any part of the media chain should consider the measures necessary for removing vulnerabilities and minimizing risk when creating and distributing content. Content security is often seen as a technology rather than a business issue and should receive the board-level attention it deserves. It’s imperative to elevate its importance within the organization and emphasize it as a strategic business issue.
Cyberattacks continue to grow in number and sophistication. Take AI-phishing schemes, for instance, which make phishing campaigns sound more credible and innocuous. They will only grow more sophisticated, so companies should prioritize company-wide measures necessary for content security preparedness.
I reached out to TransPerfect Media, another recognized localization leader who is considered a turnkey partner for many content providers around the globe. They aim to create efficiencies along every step of the media localization workflow by incorporating next-generation production, linguistic, and workflow tools. I chatted with TransPerfect Dean of Dubbing and Vice President of Media and Interactive Entertainment Jacques Barreau about their commitment to content security and preparedness.
“We are dedicated to providing a secure digital environment for our partners and all content creators worldwide,” he said. “By completing a security assessment, our cloud-recording platform, StudioNEXT, offers a secure and trusted digital space for our clients’ creations to come to fruition, from translation and adaptation to recording.”
In the past, the lack of standardized content security and preparedness controls left companies severely exposed to data breaches. For localization service providers, a vast talent pool is considered a key business asset — but along with that come equally vast vulnerabilities associated with contractor personnel and the availability of remote localization suites. The TPN initiative provides a degree of transparency for the media industry on many levels, from content providers making risk-based decisions about the service provider they wish to work with to service and software providers being able to measure their own security preparedness as well as self-manage and centrally communicate multiple layers of content security status and assessments to their customers.
I also recently chatted with Chris Carey, EVP of Americas operations and global marketing at Iyuno, a global entertainment technology and localization company serving entertainment studios in dubbing, subtitling, and media services. We discussed some of the most significant challenges in keeping content secure.
“Security is only as good as the people in the organization and their ability to observe and maintain the highest standards of safe and secure behaviors when it comes to our clients’ content,” he said. “We’re constantly building awareness and communication with all our team members and deploying training programs to keep the continuity of our security protocol going.”
According to Carey, this includes regular monitoring and improvements in the technology and deploying these across a globally dispersed operation. Plus, it’s about applying these measures across the entire workflow in a centralized and systematic manner.
Localization is such a fast-paced and rapidly expanding segment of the media industry, and many potential vulnerabilities come with that. Companies are implementing contingency plans to minimize any impact of content breach disruptions, inserting security as a core foundation upon which business is built, and building it into their company vision, strategy, and culture. Our goal is to help content owners, service, and software providers of all sizes examine their potential risks, learn how to meet those challenges and benefit from our community standing behind them.
