How to ensure your data is secure

Mitigating data risks

In the modern office, employees have access to intelligent, complex devices that help streamline their day-to-day activities and provide an elevated experience for their clients. However, this digital workplace brings modern risks with it, particularly when it comes to data security.

Multifunctional devices – those that act as a printer, scanner, fax machine and copier all in one – analyze and contain large amounts of company data. And much of that data is confidential, including address books, job histories, received faxes, and more.

Not only is this client information vulnerable to attack, but important employee data is stored in these devices, including passwords, personal details, policies, document information and of course contracts. Organizations need to ask themselves how they can secure these devices against misuse and breaches – not just for the immediate future, but for the entire life of their devices.

This life cycle doesn’t simply mean the time the device is active within the workplace. Rather, it begins in the ‘Before Use’ stage, where the hardware must be configured in line with the company’s risk appetite. Then the ‘In Use’ stage involves ongoing management to ensure current and new data is stored appropriately and protected. Finally, the ‘After Use’ stage must be considered, including complete data removal so there is no opportunity your secure information can fall into the wrong hands.

It all starts with creating and implementing the proper policies.

Creating proper business procedures

Breaches are on the rise in the Middle East, and the region is second only to the United States in terms of the costliness of a data breach (average total cost: $5.31 million), according to the 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study from the Ponemon Institute. 

In order to thwart such threats to business devices, thorough device-management policies must be implemented company-wide. The policy should be comprehensive – including instructions on device usage, security settings, account wipes, authorized users, confidential data, and more – and be accessible to every staff member. Moreover, ongoing training should be encouraged to ensure both new and current employees understand how workplace devices are to be managed. 

Canon also offers a variety of solutions that can be deployed according to your particular operations: 

• Intellectual Property Control Policy: Create formal data-destruction procedures for the whole life of the device. Also select an ‘authorized responsible user’ who must give confirmation for a hard disk drive to be removed.
• Removable Hard Drive Kit: Canon has an optional removable hard drive kit that can be removed and reinstalled at a safe location, including added security with a padlock.
• HDD Secure Data Erase: Canon’s Secure Data Erase tool means companies can completely erase sensitive data in real-time so that no information remains.
• Data Removal Service: At the device’s end-of-life, Canon’s data-removal service ensures all data is permanently destroyed to protect sensitive company information.