According to Security Magazine, there are more than 2,200 cyber-attacks a day. Broken down, that equates to one attack every 39 seconds.
Every day brings news of a new hack or hacking attempt. Because of this, your business has probably prioritized computer system intrusion prevention. You invest in tools that promise digital security. You implement them and assume you’re covered. You’ve taken all the necessary steps to protect sensitive data against unauthorized access. But what if you’re missing something?
The Print Data Security Gap
For raw data, which resides on protected servers and generally stays internal, you probably are covered. And even if this data goes off premises, encryption policies prevent access if it’s lost or stolen. But even with all these procedures in place, companies often overlook a key area, print data. This data ships all the time — often with insufficient security — to offsite production facilities.
Consider the print files you may send to your third-party production partner. What Personal Private Information (PPI) or Personal Health Information (PHI) might they contain? Maybe you include account numbers or medical treatment descriptions. They could list out bank account transactions or personal phone numbers. Regardless of type, a privacy breach via print data can be just as serious as the incidents you hear about online or in the news.
Where do print data breaches happen?
The first step to avoiding a breach is recognizing the potential issue. We’ve done that. Now you have to figure out where a breach might happen so you can stop it before it does. Print image files pass through several operations and processes. Common ones include:
- File merging and splitting,
- Postal processing,
- Document reformatting,
- Householding,
- Output channel splitting, and
- Archiving.
The biggest risk to print data is generally between these operational steps. This is because unlike information stored in corporate databases, print files are transient. This may also explain why otherwise security conscious organizations overlook this type of data.
Consider again how your company handles this type of document. It would not be uncommon for documents to be archived and forgotten about soon after printing. And while they may no longer be immediately needed by you, they could have immense value to a criminal. A criminal could use that information for identity theft, phishing lures, insurance fraud, and more.
How to secure your print data
To limit exposure risk, you need data protection that travels with your print files. This prevents unauthorized access while enabling a smooth and efficient workflow. Tools that do this allow you to comply with regulations (like HIPAA and PCI) even after data leaves your direct control. You address security gaps in document production through advanced encryption. That way, only those who have the proper generated password can unlock documents.
PRO Lockdown from Crawford Technologies is one such tool. It allows users to encrypt each page of data individually. No matter how your organization splits or separates records, the encryption stays in place. And once you’re through with processing, the files remain encrypted even in the document archive. So, even stored documents are safe.
Would you like to learn more about PRO Lockdown and print data security? Watch our recent webinar – Document Security: Address the Gaps in Your Output Production Workflow.
