If you’re a business owner and think that a few documents being shared without authorization may not be harmful, think again. You’re potentially looking at revenue loss as well as reputation loss. So, you need to take active steps to protect your revenue generating documents and your intellectual property.
Improving Document Security with DRM
To run your business, you’re authorizing employees and third-party stakeholders to view and collaborate on your documents. But, do you have complete control over how these documents are being used? Let’s look at how your document security can be improved with Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Sharing Documents over Email
While you may choose not to share sensitive information in the body of an email, you also need to consider email attachments that could contain sensitive information. So, it’s important to have a DRM workflow embedded in your emails.
How can DRM help? Well, to begin with, unauthorized recipients or interceptors can’t view sensitive information straightaway, if it’s not in the email body. Moreover, an effective DRM system can customize email attachments based on the file size and recipient domain. This means that when you attach a document, the embedded DRM workflow can turn the attachment into a DRM link (depending on the file type and size) with custom access controls to prevent copying, printing, sharing, etc.
Sharing DRM-Protected Documents on the Cloud
You can’t put your business activities on hold to make sure your documents are safe. For example, you can’t stop using the cloud because it simplified matters, primarily space and document security in transit. Yet, a lot of cloud sharing platforms claim to have their own layer of protection, while these security protocols are, in fact, quite vague. In addition, any system that uses password controls for authentication is not that secure since passwords can be shared with others.
This is why you need to opt for an effective DRM system. With an effective DRM system, you can be sure that your documents are protected in transit, in the storage space on the cloud, and when your recipient works on it. A DRM system also helps to control unauthorized sharing as well as how your documents are being used.
Controlling Membership with DRM
Many organizations use membership as a means to increase their user base. For example, the New Yorker protects its good journalism by ensuring only members get access to the premium content. Medium, the popular blogging platform, also locks it’s most well written and researched posts for members.
So, whether you’re using an accounting package or subscribe to a course, the document providers can make a clear distinction between what members receive for a premium fee and what the general subscribers receive. This means that most freely available documents (including newsletters) are available to everyone, while the premium content (for example, industry white papers, statistics, and conference papers) are only available to members
But, a glitch in such a protection system can lead to everyone having access to all the content.
Luckily, DRM protection ensures that your premium documents are protected as follows:
- You can choose to share documents for a limited time with document expiry controls.
- You can restrict certain functions (such as content copying and printing) to nip unauthorized sharing in the bud.
- You can revoke access manually, for example when a subscriber’s membership ends.
Why DRM Is the Most Secure Option
DRM access combines the strengths of encryption and access controls so that all security loopholes are covered and your documents stay protected, whether you’re sharing them internally or with third-party stakeholders. Moreover, it lets you share documents based on the time elapsed and can even prevent activities like screen grabbing.
Do you think your documents are secure when you share them via email or on cloud storage platforms? Let us know in the comments if you want to know how DRM can help improve your documents’ security.
