Ensuring Security and Trust in Your Project Data
Project Portfolio Management (PPM) isn’t about simply keeping projects on track, it is a critical frontline aspect of an enterprise’s cybersecurity. Safeguarding sensitive project-level data, everything from intellectual property to strategic financial forecasts, requires rigorous data protection and protocols.
With the right cybersecurity measures, like SOC 2 compliant PPM software, your PMO can protect sensitive project data, ensure compliance, and build stakeholder trust.
What is SOC 2 compliance?
SOC 2 is a compliance framework that evaluates and validates information security, including how data is stored, accessed, and processed. Software vendors like Prism PPM obtain SOC 2 Type 2 certification to demonstrate that the proper controls are in place to maintain your project and portfolio data integrity, security, and privacy.
What is portfolio management (PPM) software?
A project portfolio management software is built for managing and optimizing an entire portfolio (or portfolios) of projects. A Project Management Office (PMO) uses PPM software to ensure every project is managed under project governance guidelines and in alignment with the security protocols set in place by their organization.
Cybersecurity risks PMO and project portfolios face
Project data is a high-value target. From acquisition roadmaps, R&D plans, sensitive personnel assignments, and budgetary forecasts, the wide variety of data managed in a PPM system is staggering. This type of information is often cross-functional, touches multiple business units, and needs to be accessible—but only to the right individuals, under the right circumstances.
The challenge is balancing collaboration – within project teams, among resource managers and across stakeholders – with control. Without proper safeguards, organizations risk:
- Data being exposed or accessed via unsecured endpoints like unmanaged laptops or mobile devices
- Disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII), leading to regulatory violations
- Internal or external threat actors compromising project data for malicious purposes
In a constantly evolving threat landscape, insufficient security controls within a PPM environment can quickly become systemic weaknesses, leading to further downstream issues.
How does SOC 2 compliance enhance data security and privacy in the PMO and project management
The PMO plays a pivotal role in shaping and enforcing an enterprise’s security culture. When it comes to IT and digital transformation projects, the PMO often sits at the intersection of technical execution and strategic governance, making it a natural gatekeeper for cybersecurity project management best practices and risk management of cybersecurity in those projects.
A SOC 2-aligned PMO mandates that access to project data comply with the principle of least privilege, ensuring that individuals access only the information necessary to perform their roles. Moreover, because PMOs frequently coordinate across business units and external partners, they can serve as a control point for ensuring that project governance aligns with organizational security frameworks and industry compliance mandates.
The PMO can also champion secure-by-design practices (ensuring the technology adopted reasonably protects the organization from malicious cyber actors) by mandating the use of certified software, enforcing vendor compliance checks, and driving the adoption of secure collaboration policies across the portfolio.
Key security practices for safeguarding project data:
Much like a project plan is more than a set of tasks, SOC 2 Type 2 is not simply a checklist—it’s a comprehensive validation that a vendor’s security and compliance posture has been independently tested and proven over time. SOC 2-aligned PPM platforms help PMOs operate securely through:
- Controlling data environments, including how and where data is stored
- Monitoring and controlling activities related to data usage by ensuring only authorized
- Maintaining logical and physical access controls further safeguarding data storage and limiting access
- System and operations control
- Change management controls, which include documenting processes for change and keeping audit trails of changes
- Risk mitigation controls and the proactive articulation of risk to get ahead of potential issues
Protecting project data from corruption, unauthorized access, or even theft is critical. Working with a SOC 2-compliant PPM solution means the software vendor, like Prism PPM, has built-in controls to deal with the inherent risks of managing sensitive data and has proven their ability to keep that information secured.
What you should look for in a secure project portfolio management (PPM) software solution
In addition to SOC 2 compliance, project management and project portfolio management software like Prism PPM should have other controls and safeguards in place to control access and share data securely:
- Immutable activity logs provide detailed records of all user actions and ensure that any deviation from normal patterns can be quickly investigated and addressed.
- Granular permissions and fine-tuned role-based access controls prevent lateral movement by unauthorized users.
- Confidential Projects in Prism PPM allow certain work to be further safeguarded. While staffing projections are included in overall resource utilization and capacity calculations, only invited members are allowed to view project plans and information
- Additionally, you want to ensure the vendor you work with is committed to regular security updates and compliance with evolving industry standards
Why Prism PPM
Managing data security is a combination of proactive and reactive controls. Choosing a SOC 2 Type 2 certified PPM platform like Prism PPM equips PMOs with a hardened toolset that empowers the PMO to reinforce secure sharing of project data, and provides a level of security necessary to safeguard sensitive data and lower risk within the project portfolio.
At Prism PPM we take data security seriously. We’re SOC 2 type 2 certified and HIPAA compliant. With Prism, your project data and portfolio management are more secure, empowering the PMO to align with cybersecurity protocols and enforce a culture of sharing safely. Visit our Trust Center to learn more and to download our SOC 2 report.
Let us show you how we help PMO leaders and their teams operate and share securely across their entire portfolio of projects. Book a demo today.