Madrid, March 21, 2023 – We live in a time of excessive control. We try to control everything, both in our personal and professional lives. And this is because we feel that our security is increasingly compromised in today’s world, we see threats everywhere, many of them real, and we develop ever more sophisticated solutions to prevent anyone from getting in where we do not want them to get in.
Access to physical facilities
In the workplace, the first line of defense is about controlling access of employees, contractors,and visitors to our physical facilities, be it an office, a warehouse, or a laboratory. Even within the same facility, there can be access levels depending on the position and category of each person. Everything can be configured.
The most common means of controlling access to physical facilities are proximity cards. When swiped over a sensor, they detect that the person is authorized to enter the building and give them green light.
For the sake of user convenience, these cards are giving way to circular chips that can be stickedon the back of mobile phones. One less thing to carry in our pockets. As our inseparable companion, the mobile phone, never leaves our side for a moment, there is no risk of leaving our credentialsat home.
Some companies are going a step further and are opting for Bluetooth and NFC systems. NFC (Near Field Communication) is a short-range wireless system specially designed for use in mobile devices in caseswhere communication must be immediate and there is no need to exchange a large volume of information.
Finally, the most technologically developed companies are implementing biometric access control measures, i.e., they have fingerprint readers and facial and voice recognition systems that prevent unauthorized access to any facility.
Access to virtual environments
Until a few years ago, companies were mainly concerned about who entered and left their premises and at what time. But in recent decades, cyberattacks have become the order of the day and companies are also concerned, and very much so, about their cybersecurity.
In fact, one of the most sought-afterprofiles on the market is that of CRO (Chief Risk Officer). As a risk manager, this person is in charge of keeping the perimeter of the company’s IT systems intact. An absolutely essential position in banks, insurance companies, law firms and engineering firms.
All companies that handle sensitive or valuable information(e.g., medical records or credit card numbers) are more than susceptible to cyberattacks.
Over time we have ended up needing to control access to other things that are not physical. We need to determine who has access to the personal data and documentswe store on our servers and cloud repositories. And it is not discretionary: we are bound by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
As determined by law, personal data is information about an identified or identifiable natural person. Location data, digital identifiers, identity documents, resumés or any other data related to a natural person are personal data. And we must know how to manage itwell if we want to pass the audits every year.
Another way to oversee access to documents is through versioning control. Documents are usually “live” and go through several iterations until they reach the final version. In addition, several people must add content or make changes.
That is why it is so important to define the type of access to each document and to be able to keep track of who has modified a file and when. Everything is registered, which is very useful when the time for audits comes,and wehave toprove who has edited a document or filled out a form.
Today, it is still the human being who validates who accesses what, but according to forecasts, artificial intelligence will also push in into access control and will make it possible to create human-machine combinations that guarantee access control. In the future, solutions will be created to automate access control according to employee profiles and positions. We just have to wait and see.
Access control and document management solutions
In the area of document management, it is vitally important to represent and control access by assigning metadata, i.e. data that provides context, a description and additional information about data, the purpose of which is the security of the company’s files.
With the help of this metadata, document software solutions allow determining what kind of information different users have access to. Team managers can determine different levels of access for each team member: there are users who can only view and read documents, and others who can also edit and send them. It is also possible to specify whether a system user can upload or download files, whether they are documents, mp4 files, AutoCAD, etc.
The way documents are sent has also changed recently in order to control delivery and increase security. The days of email attachments are numbered and now document software facilitates the automatic sending of links that give access to documents only if permission is granted, whereasvirtually anyone can hack into an email account and access an attachment.
Therefore, implementing document software archiving solutions allows having a well-structured digital archivewhen managing access controls, as it will be clearer how to organize access. If a file stores reports for several fiscal years with their tags (metadata) well marked, they will be easier to find and select for those who may consult them.
If we take as an example the documents that could be consulted by two different departments of the same company, we could establish permissions for the administration department to have access to CRM, delivery reports, budgets, invoices, sales statistics, and payrolls. On the other hand, the logistics department would only have access to warehouse and inventory management data, purchase orders, delivery notes and order picking.
About DocPath
DocPath is a leading enterprise document software company that offers its international customers the technology that allows them to complement their ERP and implement advanced Document Output Management, Customer Communications Management and document software pooling processes.
Founded in 1993, DocPath is based in Europe, USA and Latin America and is present with its Solutions in companies around the world. Among its customers there are prestigious banks and top-tier corporations, facilitating the difficult and complex task of designing, generating and distributing their business-critical documents. DocPath keeps a strong commitment to R+D+i, an area to which it allocates a large part of its revenues, and in which lies one of the keys to its success.
For more information, visit: www.docpath.com.
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