Every organization must properly secure its data. But it is even more true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Indeed, SMEs are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. They use too few processes and protection technologies and rarely have a large dedicated IT team. Incorporating an effective security system into your document processing processes will prevent you from falling prey to hackers. In this article, we explain how to ensure the data security of your workflows!
Workflow Data Security
SMEs often have excellent protection, but only for certain aspects. They think about the security implications of their new products and react quickly to problems and hacks. But they lack a global approach to security, which is crucial!
A tip from our experts: aim for holistic security. Try to consider your safety from 3 angles: the product, the process, and the people. All of these elements contribute to an overall security strategy. The most important aspect of this strategy is securing the products, the backbone of all your organization’s data. Have you already settled this point? So the next step is to ensure your document handling processes.
Have you wondered about the security aspect of your document printing, for example? Or on their digitization and recording? Finally, the last step is to understand the people who use these systems so that they are trained to handle confidential information and corporate data properly. In this article,
Workflow 1: Print Securely
Every print job contains information that should be in the right hands. More than protecting yourself against this is required to secure your printer. The need for security arises at 3 points in the printing process:
- First, the print job must be able to be sent securely. For this purpose, the method uses the user’s PC or laptop identifiers. If the latter connects with a single sign-on software (single authentication), he can access several applications and network tools simultaneously. The data from his device is then associated with his printing profile, which allows him to print securely.
- The second critical moment for security is the provisional saving of the print job. Only when the user has checked and released the job can the document exit the printer. The location where the documents are temporarily saved remains vulnerable. This is because anyone with access can see all users’ print jobs. So make sure that this location is well protected, including for managers.
- The third and final crucial moment is when the user takes their print job out of the printer. He must then absolutely identify himself on the printer in a secure manner! The best is to use a custom method that is hard to guess or hack. An access pass, for example, or a personal 6-character PIN code comprising numbers, letters, and signs.
Workflow 2: Mobile Printing
In private life, as in the professional world, we use our smartphones and tablets more often. For example, to answer emails on the train before preparing the print job for the meeting that will start when you arrive. Your employees want to be able to pick up their mobile print jobs when and where it’s most convenient for them.
Quick and easy for them, but a security risk for organizations: how do you protect those devices and data? Managers must be able to see clearly. We advise your company to make mobile devices directly available to its employees.
If that’s not an option, make sure they don’t use old machines. A device that no longer receives updates presents a risk of data leaks. The mobile printing process should also be configured appropriately using print management software. This will protect print jobs from a mobile device in the same way as from a laptop or PC.
Workflow 3: Scan And Save
Does your organization regularly digitil documents? These are saved in the cloud, in a document management system, or even in the scanner. These locations should be protected against hackers. But how to do it? Choose a trusted partner who will watch 24/7 on the data you have stored and manage your cloud environment. It is also a good idea to lock and protect your documents with a password.
Thus, they will only be readable if they fall into the right hands. Protecting your documents is not only applicable against hackers. It must be admitted: it is your colleagues themselves who constitute the first source of risk. They can print copies, let them circulate, or send them by email. You will reduce this risk by adding automatic “security stamps” to documents as soon as they are copied, printed, or sent by email.
This buffer will carry, for example, a user name, a department, and the time the action took place. This will help you easily trace the source of the leak and deter your internal and external users from careless handling of documents and safe locations.
Workflow 4: Securing Copies And Tracing
Legally, it is not possible to scan or copy certain documents. This is particularly true for securities such as the dollar or euro notes. Therefore, printers must recognize and protect such documents against copying, printing, and scanning. One of your colleagues still tries to copy such a document? In most cases, of course, this person means no harm. Fortunately, most multifunction printers are protected by default against this manipulation.
It is also desirable to prevent the scanning or to send certain other confidential documents. Our advice in this regard: use scanning software with form recognition. This solution allows you to “teach” the software that certain documents are impossible to scan or send. Naturally, this program will record and report these manipulations to the managers. This will avoid the risk of fines for illegal practices.
Workflow Data Security A Priority
Is your organization growing and using more and more different workflows? Controlling the security of all the data involved can then be time-consuming. It is best to streamline these workflows even further. Regardless of their number, ensure that your workflow’s data security system is always up to date!
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