These days it seems like a month doesn’t pass without a major corporate data breach making headlines. Many IT chiefs around the world are scrambling to implement stronger enterprise file security protocols so their company doesn’t become the next headline.
Last year ended with the data breach debacle at Sony Pictures. And 2015 was hardly underway before Anthem, the second-largest health insurance company in the U.S., became the victim of a major hack that exposed potentially millions of customer Social Security numbers and other personally identifiable information (PII).
Why You Need Enterprise DRM, Right Now
How can companies be more proactive in protecting their sensitive data?
One of the most effective solutions available is digital rights management (DRM), sometimes referred to as information rights management (IRM). DRM first gained momentum with media companies using it as a way to prevent copyright infringement. But now DRM is an enterprise tool that allows file owners and IT departments to control the use of shared documents and manage permissions to open, view, copy, paste, print and download them.
A strong enterprise digital rights management platform should allow you to protect documents wherever they go, even if the recipient downloads files onto a device not under company control. With solid DRM policies in place, IT teams are able to achieve multidimensional access rights control throughout the enterprise and beyond.
Securing The Who, What, When Where & How Of File Access
Multidimensional access rights control allows IT departments to not only have authority over what data is accessed by whom, but also where and when that access occurs (e.g., within a corporate network or within a certain geographical or IP range).
If data is stored on an enterprise content management system (ECM) such as SharePoint, Documentum or OpenText, access rights control should allow IT to govern which content is available to individual users, as well has how that access is granted (e.g., via mobile apps, a laptop or a desktop machine).
Another dimension of access rights control entails when enterprise data gets shared with third-party users beyond the corporate network. When files are sent to third parties, you must know how they’re rendered on the third party’s hardware and how your data could be manipulated.
By deploying tools such as digital watermarking technology or access restrictions that block third-party users from downloading MS Office documents in any format other than PDF, or restricting the access through a web-based online document viewer, IT departments have tighter control over their enterprise files.
Containerization is a good way to keep a batch of files secure, but it’s now possible to implement even stronger DRM and access rights control. Enterprise digital rights management is fortified when granular access and sharing policies are embedded within the individual files stored in a secure container. This level of DRM means that a secure file container could store a variety of files with varying levels of access rights controls attached to them.
As your IT department continues to pursue more robust enterprise file security, make sure you’re implementing the latest technology for secure enterprise file sharing.
If you can follow your data wherever it goes, you always know if it’s safe.
Ready to learn more about how enterprise DRM could benefit your organization? Download your free copy of DRM, EMM & You: Controlling Data Beyond The Corporate Network.
