Introduction
David Rivera, Migration Engineer at HiView, has been a vital part of our team for the past two years. He helps safeguard our clients from security threats. In this interview, I sat down with David to discuss his role, his approach to strengthening client security, and how he leverages Google Workspace tools to keep organizations safe and supported.
Interview Q&A Section
Q. Can you tell me about the Security Assessment Services offered by HiView Solutions?
A. “We do have two security assessment plans. One is the light security assessment, and the other is full security assessments. We have a kickoff session with our clients just to ask them questions about their current setup and what they’re trying to meet in terms of security. After that, I go ahead and just review all of their settings within their workspace. With the light security assessment, we usually just have a narrow meeting call to present the security scorecard and answer any question. Then for the next two weeks, if they have any questions for me, then I can go ahead and just reply. For the full security assessment, the difference is that we not only present the security scorecard with all of our recommended actions. We also do security workshops.”
Q. What are some of the most common security threats this year for Workspace?
A. “Phishing and social engineering have always been one of the biggest threats for Workspace and a lot of other companies. However, I think mostly it’s just AI. Attackers are now using AI to make emails harder to spot. They make them look real or not. They are using new techniques to fake emails and get users to click on suspicious links. This leads to stealing their data or password. So the most common security threat is user or IT admins not knowing what they need to set up in Google Workspace or how they need to configure it.”
Q. Can you talk about some of the more advanced security tools that are driving customers to purchase Workspace Enterprise Plus?
A. “I think extra reports have a lot of things. The Enterprise Plus subscription does give you a lot more reports in order to gain a sense of what’s going on with your Google Workspace. How your users are classifying spam or how many emails have been classified as spam. Additionally, how many emails are being classified as potential phishing, spoofing, or even malware. All those reports really help understand how the organization is doing in terms of security. You also get a Gmail messages log report, where you can take actions based on specific emails.”
Q. What emerging security concerns or trends are you keeping an eye on for Google Workspace?
A. “AI has been a big thing for these past couple of years. Attackers are using AI to steal someone’s information. Now they’re hiding prompts for Gemini to actually show in the summary of emails. This is for people that don’t actually click on the emails and read them. They just go with the summary information that Gemini generates. Having correct security measures in place to make sure you don’t email or receive suspicious emails from people you don’t know is super important to have.”
Q. What’s one key piece of advice you’d give to IT or security teams using Google Workspace?
A. “My key advice would be just to take security seriously. To really invest the time and money early, not after something goes wrong. Too many teams wait until after something happens or a breach happens to start signing things up in Google Workspace. So make small investments like properly setting up two-step verification, training users on what to do if they see suspicious emails, and reviewing third-party application access.”
Full Interview
Note from Author
“I’d like to thank Ricardo once again for taking the time to share his insights. He explained in greater detail the security solutions HiView provides to its clients. To learn more about how Ricardo and our team can protect you, watch the full interview below or on our YouTube Channel.
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