From law firms to laboratories and everything in between, all businesses have documents they need to keep secure. This could be customer data, financial records, or anything else that shouldn’t be available for every employee. Businesses must keep these documents safe from both prying eyes and potential damage. You can learn more about protecting your business’s sensitive information with these tips for ensuring document security.
Invest in a Secure Backup
Security breaches aren’t the only threat to your documents and records. You can lose physical files to fire, flooding, or other types of damage. Digital files are physically secure, but they still face technical threats like file corruption or computer failure. Restoring these records can take a lot of time and energy, and you still risk permanently losing your information. This is why you should always have a secure backup for your files. Create digital versions of your physical files or keep a second copy of the documents in an alternate location. Store digital documents in a secure hard drive or cloud-based backup.
Be Consistent With Access
If you restrict employee access to your documents, make sure you do so consistently. Instead of granting access to individuals, have written standards about the security level of each team or position in your company. This is a more organized approach that will help you keep track of who does or doesn’t have access to your documents. This method also makes it easier to adjust your security access if necessary. When deciding who can and cannot access certain documents, try to err on the side of caution. It’s easier to grant security access later than to face the damage of someone having too much access to documents.
Get Rid of Files Properly
If your business or organization ever needs to get rid of sensitive documents, you need to do so carefully. Hitting delete on a file or tossing a paper in the trash isn’t enough to securely destroy these documents. For digital documents, completely wipe the file from your computer and any relevant backups. There are several ways to destroy physical documents, including using a paper shredder. Destroying documents properly is one of the best tips for ensuring document security even after you no longer need the information.
