Written by
Emma Collins
Published on
Sep 23, 2025
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Why stronger standards became urgent
Security is rarely visible. Unlike design or speed, it doesn’t announce itself. It works in the background, quietly holding everything together, until the moment it fails. As our platform grew, that background responsibility became too important to ignore. More users meant more sensitive files—contracts, personal data, financial information—moving through our system every day. The cost of doing “just enough” was no longer acceptable.
The decision was clear: treat encryption as a feature, not a checkbox. Strengthening how data is stored, transmitted, and unlocked became a priority. Without it, all other progress would rest on shaky ground.
One engineer put it plainly during a review:
“Users don’t see encryption, but they see the trust it creates when it works.”
Layers of protection
The first step was data at rest. Every file is now encrypted using AES-256. Even if someone reached the storage layer, the content would appear as scrambled text. Users don’t notice the difference—the upload flow is identical—but the underlying protection is dramatically stronger.
Next was data in transit. All communication now uses TLS 1.3. That means every request and response is shielded against interception. To a user, it feels invisible. To an attacker, it’s a wall.
Key management became just as critical. Encryption is meaningless if keys are poorly handled. We moved to automated key rotation, stored them in a secure vault, and enforced granular permissions. Keys now refresh regularly, ensuring that even if one were compromised, it wouldn’t remain valid for long.
Here’s how we broke down the improvements internally:
Layer | Method | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
At rest | AES-256 | Strong lock |
In transit | TLS 1.3 | Safe channel |
Keys | Rotation | Limited risk |
This layered model means no single safeguard carries the full load. If one fails, the others hold.
Beyond encryption: authentication
Protecting data is not enough if accounts are weak. That’s why we introduced mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA). With MFA enabled, even if a password is stolen, a second factor—like a token or app—is required to log in. For organizations, we added admin controls so MFA can be enforced across entire teams with one setting.
The rollout was smoother than expected. Teams in regulated industries welcomed it immediately. In fact, one security officer told us it was the final step they needed before rolling out the platform company-wide. From their perspective, password-only authentication simply wasn’t defensible anymore.
Compliance and beyond
These changes also move us closer to recognized standards like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Compliance is useful, but certification is only proof of habits already in place. The true value comes from the practices themselves—rotating keys, encrypting at rest and in transit, enforcing MFA. These aren’t one-off upgrades, they’re routines that have to live in the product every day.
Looking forward, security won’t be static. Algorithms evolve, standards shift, and threats adapt. Our goal isn’t to claim perfection, but to keep security as alive and evolving as the product itself. By treating it as infrastructure—visible in design decisions, invisible in use—we ensure trust is never assumed, but continuously engineered.
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