Document Protection

Intellectual property comes in many shapes and sizes, from confidential reports stored as PDFs to intricate and costly designs saved in graphic files. It’s important to ensure these documents are accessed only by their intended, authorized audience.

PDFs are widely used to distribute sensitive information such as financial statements, technical documentation, training materials, business plans, and more. PDFs can be protected with passwords, but if the password is leaked then the document’s integrity is compromised. For stronger security, AES encryption mechanisms can be employed.

AES, also known as Advanced Encryption Standard, is a symmetric encryption algorithm used to secure sensitive data. AES encryption is used across various industries, including finance, healthcare, and government, making it a cornerstone of modern data security.

Several Uses of AES in Applications

• Data Encryption: Used to encrypt files, databases, and sensitive communications.
• Secure Network Protocols: Incorporated in SSL/TLS for secure web connections.
• Email and File Transfer Security: Used in tools like PGP and S/MIME.
• Disk Encryption: Implemented in software such as BitLocker and VeraCrypt.

Protecting Data at Rest

Data at rest encryption is the process of scrambling data that is stored in databases or on a disk, so that it can only be accessed by those with a key: Data at rest encryption protects data from unauthorized access, data breaches, and physical theft. It’s similar to locking important papers in a safe, where only those with the key can access them.

Here are some ways to encrypt data at rest:

• Transparent Data Encryption (TDE): Encrypts data files at rest and performs real-time encryption and decryption. TDE can help comply with laws and regulations.
• Tokenization: Replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive substitutes, called tokens. Tokens require less computational resources and storage space than traditionally encrypted data.
• Hard disk encryption: A common way to encrypt data at rest.
• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): Google uses the AES-256 algorithm to encrypt all data that is stored by Google.

Data at rest includes both structured and unstructured data, and can be stored in many places, including hard disk drives, database servers, the cloud, and portable storage.

To learn more about protecting your electronic documents from unauthorized access, send an email to info@software-licensing.com or submit the form below.