Document Scanning

IFCAG: Take care with online document storage security

Firms should take online document storage security as seriously as they do physical documents.

Businesses investing in secure online document storage should take the security of the information as seriously as they would physical data.

This is the opinion of the Identity Fraud Communications Awareness Group (IFCAG), which warned that firms should be just as responsible with digital records as they are with physical documentation.

Chairman Neil Munroe was asked if he believes people take enough care when it comes to protecting information online.

He responded by suggesting that there is often a lack of understanding about how important it is to protect data in a digital format, but people seem to be starting to comprehend how to protect themselves in terms of physical documents.

"There are a lot of people who still don’t shred, and they still don’t think it’s going to happen to them. But more and more people are getting it when it comes to something visible like a utility bill or bank statement and looking after documents like credit cards and passports. We’re getting there on that message," he said.

"What people aren’t [doing] – and this is common with new things like social media growing – is treating their information in the same way."

Mr Munroe noted that Facebook, Myspace and other social media sites are full of information that fraudsters could thrive upon.

The expert pointed out that the information might not just be available to the people you trust and could be abused if noticed by the wrong people.

"The other message is that fraudsters do look around – they do look for new developments where information is being gathered and will probably be early adopters of it as much as genuine people in terms of the benefit it can give them for the wrong as opposed to the right reasons," He added.

As such, any business investing in a document scanning service to get their information stored digitally should ensure that it protects the data it is transferring.