How Zahara software ensures robust Accounts Payable security

Accounts Payable security is never something you want to compromise on. A bad security incident can ruin an organisation through reputational damage, lost business, lawsuits and more. In the past decade security breaches have famously cost retailer Target $18.5 million in settlements, caused Travelex to file for bankruptcy, and hammered the lid shut on Myspace’s coffin.

With all that in mind, it’s no surprise to us that you want to know how secure Zahara software is. We hope to be handling your accounts payable after all.

Whatever questions you’ve got about Zahara software and accounts payable security, we aim to answer them here. We’ve penned out a few details on Zahara’s security aspects, then jumped right into the questions we get asked most.

Zahara Software features

Zahara is Cyber Essentials Plus certified

That’s right. We’re certified by the UK National Cyber Security Centre. That means they’ve gone through our systems checking for weak points and vulnerabilities, and given Zahara software the security all clear.

This certification is the gold standard for British cyber security.

Hosted on Microsoft Azure

Zahara is hosted on Microsoft Azure. We chose to host on Azure for its robust security. Microsoft invests over $1 billion annually in cybersecurity research and has a cybersecurity team bigger than most companies.

Azure is security certified with a host of cyber security compliance standards. It boasts multi-layered security and top-end threat detection.

Doing so gives us:

• Data encryption (more on that below)
• Distributed data networks
• Regular backups of information

Audit trails

Zahara will add granular audit trails to your business software. These audit trails will show you just how much money has been spent on any given transaction, who authorised the spend, where the money went and much more.

If a mysterious employee is having a bit too much fun with company money, Zahara’s audit trails will make it much easier to figure out who that mystery employee is.

Encryption

As we mentioned above, hosting on Microsoft Azure means that all data stored by Zahara (i.e. your data) is encrypted. What’s more, your data will be encrypted at rest and when in transit, making it near impossible for outside sources to read – if they could even get their hands on it in the first place…

Robust controls

Our software also adds spend controls so you can better manage who has the power to spend company money. This is one of the key benefits of automating your accounts payable department. With the old ways retired, only people you appoint will have the power to spend money, which greatly reduces the chance of fraud.

Preventing fraud with automation

Zahara’s invoice processing software will aid fraud prevention too. It does this by using three-way matching, a process where AI reads invoices and checks them against goods received notes and purchase orders to make sure nothing suspect is going on. If some cheeky scammer thinks they can submit false invoices and get you to pay for them, Zahara software will spot it. 

Download our Fraud Guide here: Fraud Guide PDF

The big Accounts Payable security questions

Here are some of the questions we regularly get asked about data protection in accounts payable, Zahara’s security and the answers you’re looking for.

Why should I trust Zahara with my Accounts Payable security?

A fair question… elements of which, like our Cyber Essentials Plus security certification, you may have been able to gleam from above.

But it’s not useful to just straight-up tell you that you can trust us. You’ll want proof. We’ve added some in-depth case studies below so you can hear how our customers feel about security at Zahara.

We also like to think our good reputation in the wider business world reflects our dependability when it comes to AP automation security. If you want proof of that reputation you can find it here, on a page of testimonials from our many contented customers.

How strong is Zahara’s security?

It’s strong. We probably don’t need to mention that Cyber Essentials Plus certification again (but we will for anyone who’s jumped to this section). On top of that, being hosted on Microsoft Azure gives you all the robust security the platform is known for.

We’ll get more into backups below, but they occur every 15 minutes. All information stored on Zahara databases is encrypted at rest, and in transit.

As for password security, Zahara’s secure AP software solution has higher-than-average requirements for password complexity, and uses two-factor authentication for an added layer of security.

We also have external tests conducted on our software every year to ensure that it remains reliable. These tests are done by a third party to ensure impartiality, and the results of the annual test (if there are any) will be acted upon by our developers.

To put it simply, when it comes to security we’re as good as we can be.

Are there any backups and are they safe?

Yes, hosting on Azure gives Zahara the ability to back up every fifteen minutes. All data stored in Zahara is held in mirrored data centres at different locations in the UK – if one fails you can still access your data from the other.

What’s more, Azure also performs distributed backups so your data is always available. 

Can I get my data back if I leave Zahara?

Yes, of course. We hope you don’t feel the need to, but if you choose to leave Zahara, we will return all your data to you.

What is Zahara’s protocol for responding to cybersecurity incidents?

Action and transparency govern our protocol. If a security threat is detected our team will work around the clock to shut the threat down. Damage would then be assessed and a course of action will be taken to decide how we clean up any damages with user and stakeholder best interests at the fore.

After the security incident has been handled, we would make an announcement to ensure that Zahara users are fully informed about the incident, damages and our course of action to set things right.

A word from Zahara

We hope what you’ve read here will help you put your faith in Zahara. We know security can be a tricky issue, and robust measures can be the thing that makes your decision. We were in your position when we were looking at platforms to host our software on. We picked Azure for its reputation of excellent security. That thinking feeds into everything we do.

Alongside our attention to accounts payable security, Zahara can give you benefits in efficiency and cost savings, streamlining what you do in ways that will work wonders on your operations. If you’d like to hear just how we can do that for you, take a scroll through our blog – we’ve got heaps of info already published. Alternatively, you can schedule a call with one of our experts or book a demo to see how the software works in real time. We’re looking forward to speaking to you.