Document management refers to the entire process from the production or receipt of a document to its archiving . It is increasingly common practice to entrust software systems with the delicate task of performing all the activities involved in the document lifecycle. The ever-increasing use of personal productivity applications and collaboration tools, regulatory pressure (for example, mandatory electronic invoicing), and the urgent need for smart working in recent months have led to the creation of distributed offices and the need to organize digital archives to make information readily available and accessible.
Document Archiving: A Security Overview
An important prerequisite for document archiving is having data protection technologies . With the sharp increase in remote working caused by the pandemic, hackers have focused their attention on targeted attacks on individuals using everyday tools. Among these, email.
Cybercriminals have, in fact, exploited the situation of collective hardship and the inevitable weakening of defenses. This situation was caused primarily by the expansion of the corporate perimeter , making traditional perimeter protection measures ineffective. Suffice it to say that, according to the Clusit Report , in the first half of this year, ransomware activity (malware that renders data unusable until a ransom is paid) increased by 350% compared to the same period last year .
Document archiving software: securing your company's information assets
Using document archiving software means being able to draw on a vast digital container that is always updated and instantly shareable with colleagues, partners and collaborators working in the same office or miles away.
An archive of this type can be created by dematerializing existing documents and/or using native digital documents , that is, inserted into an exclusively digital workflow that never requires printing.
In both cases, document archiving software is responsible for preserving the authenticity as well as the immediate retrievability (usually through the use of keywords and metadata) of each digital document: a file whose integrity and immutability are guaranteed by a digital signature and timestamp that certify the author and the time of its creation, respectively.
By assigning an identification code and protocol signature to the software tool, each file can be uniquely identified and sent for archiving. Ad hoc technologies can then be used to track access and changes made, by whom, when, and so on. These are all essential features for archiving in accordance with current regulations.
Security by design: why it is necessary
The concept of security by design is the foundation of software engineering and involves writing applications by anticipating the possibility of their being attacked and designing them to minimize the impact of a successful attack.
Article 25 of the GDPR (the European General Data Protection Regulation) establishes that the principle of security by design must be followed: both when defining the means of data processing (when designing solutions) and when the processing itself occurs . The data controller must be able to rely on adequate organizational and technical measures to ensure fundamental protections. The ultimate goal, in practice, is to design a process that is free of vulnerabilities.
Security by design for proper document archiving
To protect companies from cyber threats and information loss, they should increasingly focus on comprehensive security by design , integrated with various business processes . This, of course, must take into account the complexity of digital ecosystems (which inevitably see their boundaries expand, bringing all the players in the supply chain closer together) as well as, naturally, users and the areas in which they operate.
Referring in particular to the archiving process, it should be noted that using software solutions, especially if in the cloud , using PaaS – Platform as a service , first of all eliminates the problems of protecting physical spaces .
Furthermore, if the document archiving software is highly flexible, it will offer identity and access management (to manage user profiles authorized for consultation). Furthermore, easily customizable solutions allow you to quickly set access modes, even for users without a technical background, and set selective policies for certain files containing sensitive data . For example, making them read-only, preventing downloads, and so on.
automated systems and artificial intelligence capabilities then helps gather all the information needed by decision makers to uncover any anomalies and take remedial action in the event of problems, threats, or, unfortunately, actual attacks.
