Virtual Data Rooms with Invisible Marking: The Affordable Solution for SMBs

Guest post by Alex Vakulov is a cybersecurity researcher with over 20 years of experience in malware analysis.

Numerous companies experience data breaches caused by cyber-attacks or malicious actions carried out by insiders within the organization. To keep your data safe, it is crucial to take action early. One solution is using a Virtual Data Room (VDR). Business leaders always try to make their organizations more efficient by improving technical systems and increasing information security. However, many employees are used to discussing and sharing documents the traditional way, with printed copies or through email.

Virtual Data Rooms with Invisible Marking

Employees often use and discuss printed documents in negotiation rooms, exposing their companies to risks. Let me tell you how to optimize this process and what solutions to choose.

Virtual Data Rooms: what they are and why you need them

Let’s say you are discussing an important contract with confidential details. One of the partners secretly takes a photo with their phone and uploads it online. This can ruin the deal. Alternatively, consider another scenario where an employee with privileged access takes a photo of a document for business purposes without realizing that their phone had been compromised previously. There are many situations where confidential documents can be lost or shared, but few ways to stop it. A possible solution is using Virtual Data Rooms, secure storage spaces in the cloud where you can keep your documents.

VDRs can significantly increase the efficiency of the organization and improve data protection. A Virtual Data Room is a folder-based space that utilizes user-specific access rights. Users can download and share only the files they are allowed to. Virtual Data Rooms enable streamlined collaboration across different business processes.

Securing Virtual Data Rooms: best practices

Judging by the cyber-attack trends, confidential data is increasingly becoming the main target of hackers. The main targets of attacks are the high-tech, financial, medical, and public sectors. It is logical that, because of this situation, virtual storage should be well protected. Here is how to do it:

• First, you need to protect the cloud itself. The security of the cloud infrastructure involves the protection of not only the external perimeter but also the communication channels using Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools.
• Next, you need to protect the files located in virtual storage. Besides taking care of permissions to view and edit documents, it is crucial to protect the files themselves. This can be done using DLP and DRM tools. They help control access to documents, limit the types of actions and the number of actions allowed when working with documents.
• Finally, safeguarding the document content is crucial. Since DLP solutions are often ineffective when it comes to photographs taken with a phone, a more comprehensive approach is necessary. The most efficient solution appears to be using Virtual Data Room supplemented by a digital identifier that provides a unique and invisible marking for documents. This invisible marking is preserved when documents get photographed. If a data breach occurs, the digital identifier can be used to identify the individual responsible for illicit activity involving the specific document.

Digital Identifiers: why choose them over traditional watermarks?

Traditional watermarks may obstruct the document’s content, hindering readability. They can also be removed in the editor. Most importantly, they cannot be used to identify the source of a data leak in the event of an incident.

Digital identifiers outperform traditional watermarks in every way. Additionally, they serve as a deterrent to numerous potential malicious insiders.

The demand for the use of invisible marking technology is just emerging. Few market players offer such products, and potential customers are still evaluating the advantages of using such products.

Digital Identifiers: functionality explained

Invisible marks based on steganographic methods are automatically applied to all documents uploaded to the system. Micro-shifts of distances between words, lines, and paragraphs occur; however, the document’s visual appearance remains unchanged for the human eye. It is impossible to spot the marking with the naked eye. In the event of a data leak, it is possible to conduct an examination of the compromised fragment by uploading it to a system that will determine the source.

Let’s go back to one of the cases described above, where an attacker takes a photo of a confidential document using their phone. Identifying the culprit in a data leak would be simple if all copies distributed during a meeting were marked within a VDR and printed separately for each attendee. By uploading a fragment or photo of the leaked document to the system and comparing the markings, the system can identify the specific recipient of that particular copy.

Benefits of VDRs with invisible marking features

Using a VDR with invisible marking capabilities offers a relatively streamlined implementation process, as opposed to more complex and expensive DLP solutions that involve a lengthy consultation, implementation, and integration process. This makes VDRs with digital watermarks an affordable option for small and medium-sized businesses and can significantly reduce implementation costs for large enterprises while maintaining a high level of information security. Comprehensive VDR protection combined with document marking can be critical for highly regulated industries and government organizations.

Additionally, this approach helps prevent document loss during exchange and coordination through email. Moreover, it reduces the load on the data loss prevention solution and mail servers.

Again, the implementation of such a solution will create a preventive effect. A worker with malicious intentions will be aware that all copies are marked, and the system can definitively identify him in case of a data breach.

Final thoughts

Virtual Data Rooms are an effective solution for storing and sharing documents with both internal and external parties. Creating folders, providing access rights, and other features of VDR allow you to build a comfortable interaction between employees. Nonetheless, it is necessary to protect both the cloud storage and the files stored there. Comprehensive protection can only be achieved by combining a secure VDR with the use of invisible marking for documents. Integrating this solution will deter potential breaches and identify the perpetrator in the event of a data leak.

Alex Vakulov is a cybersecurity researcher with over 20 years of experience in malware analysis. Alex has strong malware removal skills. He is writing for numerous tech-related publications sharing his security experience. Alex is assisting organizations in making informed decisions to secure their data and assets effectively.

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