How To Protect Confidential Documents In Your Office

Are you concerned about the security of your physical confidential documents? Many security breaches can occur through improperly secured documents. A single misplaced copy of a check could easily lead to identity theft and fraud. For this reason, you may want to take some additional security steps. 

Create a Separate Room for Documents

Don't simply store documents in your open office plan. Make sure that there is a storage area for confidential information and that all confidential information is placed in this storage area at the end of every day. Further, these additional storage area should be locked at the end of the business day and only those who are trusted should have the keys. 

Change Locks on a Regular Basis

It's a good idea to periodically change the locks in your office to account for employees who have left and keys that may have been misplaced. An annual re-keying of your locks by a commercial locksmith can go a long way towards minimizing your risk. The more employees you have, the more important this becomes.

Avoid Recycling Papers in Office

Many companies try to recycle paper in office by printing on both sides, but that can be a bad idea because confidential information can end up scattered around the office. If you're interested in saving the environment, it's often best to send paper to be shredded and recycled by a professional shredding company.

Try to Go Virtual

While hard copies are required occasionally, there are many ways that a company can go virtual instead. A paperless office will find it easier to secure documents because it can be logged when each document is accessed and because items cannot simply be lost. 

Enforce Office Policies

All the security in the world will not help if your office security policies are lax. Make sure that employees know that they are not to take confidential documents outside of the office, for instance; even trustworthy employees can inadvertently lose documents between their home and the office.

Avoid Making Additional Copies

The best security practice is to always treat a copy just like the original. Both for security and the environment, additional copies of sensitive material should be avoided unless strictly necessary. Employees should be aware that additional copies should be destroyed when no longer needed.

If you're still concerned about the safety of your confidential documents, you may want to hire a commercial locksmith from a company like High Security Locksmith to go over your security. Many companies have regulatory requirements regarding confidential documents and sensitive material, so it's important to enforce these security protocols.


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