Go Secure by Going Paperless

In today’s digital era, going paperless is an essential step businesses can take to enhance data security, streamline processes, and promote environmental sustainability. More than just reducing clutter, a paperless environment can drastically improve a company’s data and information security, keeping sensitive information under robust safeguards.

Once an office decides to go paperless, they can use a document imaging process to convert all current paper documents into digital formats, then choose software to store, manage, and track all digital documents. Generally, the software is an electronic document management (EDM) or content management system (CMS) solution.

The security benefits of a paperless office are found in the various features offered by these EDM and CMS solutions. Today, we’ll discuss some of these features to help you better understand how going paperless can offer improved data security solutions.

Secure File Sharing

In a paperless office, files are often shared digitally. If managed correctly, this approach can significantly boost data security. With digital file sharing, you can control who has access to specific files, monitor real-time changes, and even revoke access if needed.

Advanced content management system security measures can further ensure the safety of shared files, minimizing the risk of data breaches. For instance, encrypting files can allow for secure encrypted file sharing, making files unreadable to hackers or unauthorized recipients.

File Versioning

File versioning allows multiple versions of a document to exist concurrently. As employees make changes to documents, new versions get created and stored. In case of unintentional changes or errors, previous versions of the document can be easily retrieved, thereby protecting the integrity of your data.

File versioning also prevents conflicts when multiple users work on the same document, making collaboration seamless and secure. Because it maintains a record of changes made, versioning is integral to creating document audit trails.

Audit Trails

An audit trail can help track a document’s chain of custody. It records the sequence of activities related to a specific operation, such as changes made to a digital document. In a paperless environment, creating an audit trail is straightforward, as every action taken on a digital file is automatically recorded. In addition to tracking changes, audit trails record who accessed which documents.

This makes audit trails crucial for maintaining accountability, tracking unauthorized access, and investigating incidents in the event of data breaches and an integral part of any robust data security platform.

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Automated Document Retention

What is document retention?

Simply put: document retention is a catch-all for the methods of storing and using data over a specific period—usually referred to as the “retention period.” Document retention policies are often based on laws regulating the use and accessibility of sensitive and confidential information. For instance, personally identifiable information (PII), such as a name, address, credit card number, or a patient’s healthcare information, has document retention regulations.

Automated document retention plays a pivotal role in information security by managing the lifecycle of your documents. It involves rules-based systems that determine how long data is stored and when it’s deleted. This helps businesses adhere to data retention regulations and minimizes the risk of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands.

Rules-Based Regulatory Compliance

In addition to retention periods, laws might regulate who can view specific information and how they use it. EDM and CMS solutions can help improve security and compliance with regulations by letting you utilize AI and automation to create rules regarding who can access and view information.

With rules-based regulatory compliance, you can automate processes to ensure your business follows the necessary laws and regulations. For instance, you can create rules limiting document access based on individual roles and needs. You can even use AI to find and redact specific information, allowing some employees to access documents needed to complete tasks while preventing them from viewing sensitive information.

For example, you can allow someone to access patient contact information while redacting any diagnoses or treatment information to maintain compliance with HIPAA.

Discretionary Access Controls

As mentioned above, implementing stringent access controls is critical to securing your data. These controls determine who can access specific data and what they can do with it. A robust access management system can prevent unauthorized access, safeguarding your data from internal and external threats.

Disaster-Proof Storage

Storing data digitally can shield your business from disasters like fires, floods, or physical theft. Cloud storage solutions offer high levels of data redundancy, keeping your information safe even if one data center goes offline. This redundancy also helps in data disaster recovery, with backup copies of documents available should you suffer an unexpected information loss.

Don’t forget, most cloud security providers offer data loss prevention (DLP) measures to protect your data from threats and breaches, reinforcing your data protection solutions.

Encryption at Rest

Encryption at rest is a method of protecting stored data by converting it into an unreadable format. Only those who have a decryption key can access the original data. This means that the information remains secure even if your data storage is compromised. It’s a critical element of EDM and CMS security and integral to protecting sensitive data.

Data Discovery and Classification

Before protecting your data, you need to know what kind of data you have and where it’s stored. This is where data discovery comes in. In a paperless office, data discovery tools can scan your digital storage to identify the type of data you have and classify it based on sensitivity.

Data classification is critical in data security because it helps identify which data requires the most protection. For example, sensitive information such as financial records, personal client details, and confidential business plans should be classified as high-risk. This data needs to be tightly controlled and continuously monitored to prevent unauthorized access and ensure CMS security.

By discovering and classifying your data, you can ensure that the right data protection solutions are applied to the right data, increasing your overall data security.

Real-time Security Monitoring

Real-time security solutions monitor your system continuously, checking for unusual access patterns, potential security vulnerabilities, and possible data breaches. If anything suspicious is detected, alerts are sent out immediately, allowing for a prompt response.

In a paperless office, real-time monitoring is even more effective. Since all your data is digital, monitoring tools can scan your entire data ecosystem in seconds, identifying potential threats before they become full-blown crises. This is particularly important for web application security, where threats can arise from numerous vectors and escalate rapidly.

Implementing real-time monitoring is like having a 24/7 security guard for your data. It guarantees that your data is always protected and gives you valuable time to act if a breach occurs.