The latest rash of cybersecurity issues continue to be a plague on the modern connected world. Trust is now more important than ever. As companies have spent the last 20 years moving from hard-copy documents and manual processes to electronic documents and automation, document management solutions have become more commonplace. While they offer considerable improvements in accessibility and convenience, these systems do come with concerns about data security. Software developers must ensure that their solutions feature appropriate security controls, and companies that are looking to adopt these solutions must ensure that they meet regulatory requirements.
Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality Concerns Regarding Electronic Document Management
When evaluating a next generation document management strategy, companies need to have confidence that the information they store on the platform will remain secure. When choosing a vendor, they often ask about:
- Physical security measures, such as data centers and hosting services
- Access control measures, approval workflows, and audit conformance
- Encryption technologies
- System monitoring and incident notification procedures
- Vulnerability testing for web applications and remote document access tools
One way that document management vendors can more easily respond to these requests is to present prospects with a formal SOC assessment or similar security attestation. These documents not only outline each of the policies and processes, but also the controls, that a company has in place; they can be shared with prospects as an easier way to determine if the platform meets their privacy and security needs.
SOC reports include an independent service auditor’s opinion on the design and operating effectiveness of these controls. These third-party assessments provide a higher level of assurance than a vendor simply stating that their platforms are secure. In a competitive marketplace, this can help organizations position themselves as a trusted leader in privacy, security, and confidentiality.
What is different today is that so many documents are stored on less security environments and need to be reconciled. What is the truth, the latest version of the truth, and are there any ‘unwanted tags’ placed in the files that create a cyber security threat?
InfoDNA is here to help understand the needs of SOC and security in the document-centric world. The world used to worry about lawyers and months of litigation; now we need to add cyber-threats that want money now or they shut down systems.
