COVID-19 has changed work patterns all around the globe, forcing the closure of offices and
sending workers to operate from home. Employees working remotely present a number of information security challenges. One of these is the need to view, create, edit and collaborate on high-value documents in new and uncontrolled environments.
Even companies that already control distribution of digital documents using FileOpen rights
management technology are finding that new workflows are required to support fully remote teams.
Organizations are coming to us with these new challenges:
- A manufacturer’s proprietary in-house training is no longer possible and needs training materials to be delivered to remote users as PDF.
- A manager of real-estate lease applications must now accept these documents as PDF with fill-in forms, but wants to protect both the forms and the privacy of the applicant’s information.
- A Big 5 accounting and professional services firm wants to enable remote employees to view confidential client materials from offsite locations and to create usage logs that can be audited by the client.
- A government research management organization is pivoting to a virtual conference, but needs to control access to presentations, proposals and other materials distributed to attendees.
FileOpen’s flexible implementation architecture is enabling these organizations to extend access to remote users without sacrificing security.
Here are 4 key ways FileOpen rights management can enable remote teams to work and collaborate more effectively.
- Enable remote access: On-premises implementations of the FileOpen software can be extended to manage documents outside the firewall, for example by locating the PermissionServer in a “DMZ” or setting up a parallel internet-facing instance.
- Enable secondary authentication methods: Enabling external access can mean that users are no longer able to authenticate using Active Directory. Alternative or “fail-over” authentication policies can usually be added so that users can present credentials or register devices, including mobile devices, via special-purpose “RegistrationPDFs”.
- Enable external or cloud-based encryption. Remote workers who are creating new documents can be given the tools to encrypt those documents, either by installing the encryption tools locally, by setting up an endpoint for users to upload files, or by working with FileOpen to enable encryption in the cloud.
- Turn on FileOpen secure annotation and collaboration tools in Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Teams working remotely can collaborate on secure documents using the commenting tools included in the Adobe Acrobat/Reader products. These tools can be enabled by the PermissionServer by granting EditNotes and/or Edit rights, usually also with permission to Save changes. Annotated encrypted documents may be shared among users who have the same access rights in the same way as unencrypted documents.
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