How to handle sensitive information in business documents

Sensitive information is data that must be protected from unauthorized access to safeguard the privacy or security of an individual or organization. Sensitive business information includes anything that poses a risk to the company in question if discovered by a competitor or the general public.

We might be talking about a pre release earnings statements being shared prior to public release or a crucial new development ending up in your competitor’s hands. A research document being altered post approval or failing to comply to regulatory requirements.

To most organizations simply ensuring that the right client name is continuous throughout the document and matching the right information is considered both business critical and highly sensitive.

So how do you secure sensitive information when producing documents?

Most organizations produce their documents in a file driven document solution (such as Word) with adhering processes for editing, reviewing, approving and file-sharing. It is a serial process that can be quite time consuming, tedious and risky. Not to mention finding the right information or version and reusing information. Even if you manage to apply the right tools and policies for handling sensitive information it adds to your process. Much can be gained by investing in a database-driven solution designed for document production and co-authoring.

With XaitPorter your team gets a system that enables

•   Access Control with
  • confidentiality on object level
  • and time-based access

•   Assigned accountability by roles and tasks
•   Information integrity through
  • content focus
  • the use of metadata to avoid tedious errors and time-consuming changes

•   Transparency trough
  • versioning
  • revisions
  • comments
  • reports
  • a single-source document

•   Compliance through
  • audit trails
  • segregation of duties
  • role-based access

•   Complete control through
  • audit trails
  • segregation of duties
  • role-based access

•   Availability with instant access to
  • the newest version
  • no check-in/check-out
  • always working in real-time on live documents

Besides gaining a system to enforce the CIA triad of confidentiality, integrity and availability found at the very heart of information security, you might also find the following functionalities of value:

•   Linked sections
  • ensuring consistency and a single source of content across your enterprise, while reducing the time it takes to leverage, manage and maintain your content.

•   Redacted text
  • without having to delete content or produce different versions of a document

•   Content Expiry
  • expiry date on content enables you to have separate content owners and secures always working with up to date information

Why would you add to an already complex and time-consuming process, instead of trying a solution that is dedicated to the document production and streamlined for teamwork efficiency?

Conclusion

By choosing a SaaS (software as a Service) solution that caters to your information security needs, from a partner that is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and committed to high standards of information security, privacy and transparency, your organization will be well on its way to ensuring efficiency and increased quality to all your projects.

Dare to become a part of the document production process evolution.