How to secure electronic documents?

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the dematerialisation of documents has accelerated. Consequently, the issue of document security must be addressed seriously to limit the risks of data theft, fraud or alteration of sensitive documents with evidential value and thus guarantee a high level of security.

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Why protect your documents?

Securing documents is a key issue for many companies. If a paper document can be sealed, this is also the case for electronic documents.

Managing digital files and securing them is a complex issue for companies, especially as it concerns a large majority of industries today.

Indeed, Covid19 has accelerated the use of digital technology for the follow-up of all administrative procedures, saving valuable time. But are these digital file processes secure enough? The risk of fraud, hacking or data theft has never been so high. In 2020, 7 out of 10 companies experienced at least one fraud attempt. In this context, it is up to each company department to protect itself against these cyber attacks. Fortunately, while the attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated, so are the defensive tools. 

Opting for a document security system is a highly strategic decision. By equipping themselves with the right tools, companies give credibility and legitimacy to their positions with their business partners and employees.

And we know how important trust is in business relationships.

What types of documents are involved?

The diversity of sensitive documents and the digitisation of these documents - framework notes, budgets, presentations on a company's development strategy, restructuring plans, employment contracts, balance sheets - has led companies to secure their information systems. Beyond the issue of identity management within a company (and, more specifically, the issue of access privileges), the issue of securing shared data has become essential.

Several departments must consider the policy of secure management of their documents: research and development, finance and accounting, legal, purchasing, marketing and sales. All of them are concerned by this security imperative which affects sensitive data that can be sold at a high price on the dark web.

So what are the solutions for securing a company's electronic documents? We have made a quick overview of the types of solutions available on the market.

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How does the Archipels platform meet the need to secure documents?

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1 - Electronic time stamping 

Electronic time stamping is a process that makes it possible to prove the veracity of a document, data or file. Used in particular by the legal and compliance professions to guarantee the authenticity of a contract, time stamping is an effective means of protecting against the falsification or alteration of a document. The democratisation of the blockchain provides an even more robust and secure technological horizon for electronic time stamping, which is on its way to achieving the same legal value as traditional time stamping technologies. Electronic time stamping is the process of choice for securing any document. 

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2 - Electronic archiving

On average, a company spends between 5 and 15% of its turnover on managing its paper documents. The acceleration of the digitisation of companies, accentuated by the Covid19 pandemic, has led to considerable savings in document management... while at the same time increasing the risk of cyber attacks. The vulnerability of corporate information systems can be very costly indeed. With electronic archiving on the Archipels platform, you benefit from the immutability and integrity properties of the blockchain, making it a preferred solution for companies to secure their electronic documents.

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3 - The electronic signature

With the electronic signature, the issuer of an electronic document is authenticated, which makes it possible to establish a relationship of trust with the recipient of the document. With the digitalisation of business operations - the management of employment contracts or commercial contracts for example - the electronic signature has become the preferred solution for securing a document by ensuring the authentication of the issuer. With the Archipels solution, preserve your electronically signed documents over time in order to anticipate archiving thanks to long-term anchoring.

Securing electronic documents has become essential

The issue of document security concerns many companies, which are often in constant search of new solutions to ensure they are protected against fraud and data theft. Archipels intends to respond to the needs of these companies (get more information to support your project by contacting our teams). 

Our solution aims at a better control of digital identity thanks to blockchain technology and thus a decentralised data management. Verification, securing and valorisation of documents are part of the solutions we offer in order to intervene in the framework of fraud prevention, but also of long-term anchoring or customer onboarding.