When it comes to cybersecurity, one of the best ways to keep your documents safe is to go completely digital. However, most companies still need some level of printing and physical documentation. That’s why it’s so important to include digital document management as part of your company’s overall cybersecurity strategy. You can digitize printing and print management, but you can also improve your company’s document management as a whole.
Document management is an easy way to increase productivity, but it also serves a more important role in cybersecurity. Simply using a system to keep all documents in one secure place isn’t always enough. Data security is a key feature of any great data management system to minimize risk and give clients peace of mind.
When you have the right document management platform, you can keep tighter reins on your overall business security. A large portion of security concerns comes from physical and hard drive-stored documents. A cloud-based system, however, can help you virtually eliminate those security concerns. Ready to get started with a new digital cybersecurity plan? In that case, here’s what you need to know before you get started.
Cybersecurity Analysis and Planning
Before you start your new cybersecurity plan, your first step is figuring out your company’s biggest security concerns. Once you identify those concerns, you can use your digital document management platform to address those concerns.
For example, a lot of companies struggle with security measures when they collect signatures. They may ask people to sign physical documents, or they may email documents to the signee. Either way, the document signature process comes with a lot of potential security pitfalls, especially if the company in question sends out a lot of documents for signage. In the space between signing and delivery, documents can easily fall into the wrong hands.
Many business owners have started using digital document management as a way to address these concerns. Some document platforms allow for e-signatures, so when a document needs to be signed, it can stay in one secure place, and the signee can add their name to the document online.
No matter what your biggest security concerns may be, it’s important to research and address them. A security audit can help you discover blind spots. Once you’ve determined your security needs, you can start making the changes that will close the gaps.
Some changes can be gradually introduced, while others will need to be undertaken right away. It’s important to remember that some aspects of the plan may be clunky and impede the good work that your employees are trying to do. Be flexible and creative as you implement the plan, and remember that some solutions can address multiple problems at once.
Using Document Management to Control Document Access
Many of your cybersecurity concerns will probably have something to do with document access. For example, consider the amount of sensitive information that your company stores and collects.
The best rule of thumb: the more personally identifiable information (PII) at play, the more safeguards that need to be involved. PII includes things that are frequently sought in data breaches: full names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth can be used to wreak havoc for a victim. One small failure can have a huge impact on your customers and their lives, so it’s vital to consider any of your documents that may contain this information. Furthermore, a security breach can mean that your clients lose trust in your company, so nobody wins if your documents are breached.
Fortunately, a good document management system can let you control document access. You may have some documents that need to be accessible to your entire team. Other documents should only stay available to a select few. Either way, digital document management lets you control that access. You can set specific security parameters to make sure that only the right people see specific documents. You can even track who has accessed any document at any given time, so you can make sure that your parameters are being met.
Plus, if you use a cloud-based platform, you can protect important documents from flood, fire, theft, and other disasters. While hard drives and physical papers may be vulnerable, cloud-saved documents can stay intact no matter what happens to your physical spaces.
Implementing the right document platform is one of the most important things that you can do for overall cybersecurity. When you protect your documents, you protect your company and your clients at the same time.
Selecting the Right Cybersecurity Partner
Finally, make sure that you choose the right cybersecurity platforms for your company. Not all cybersecurity solutions are right for your organization, and if you choose the wrong ones, you may have to start again from scratch. Research is the key to preventing wasted time, money, and resources. Find a company that will support your needs and provide ample resources in the event of data compromise or loss. Over the last few years, large corporations such as AT&T, Home Depot, and Target have fallen victim to data breaches. The impact has been in the millions of dollars lost and thousands of customers impacted. If data breaches can happen to these corporations, they can happen to small and medium-sized businesses as well. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so do your research and start your cybersecurity action plan.
Now that you’ve seen how cybersecurity failures can cause bigger problems, find a data security company that can prevent those problems. Here at Vasion, we’re ready to help you keep your data safe. Our document management platform is a secure, cloud-based way to protect your documents from theft, loss, and other disasters. Plus, our platform makes it easy for you to keep your documents organized, collect electronic signatures, and keep paper clutter out of your office.
Want to learn more about what Vasion can do for you? Get in touch with us today to schedule your demo. We’ll show you how the platform works for organizations like yours.