From Digital Vaults to Cloud Services, Here’s How to Keep Important Documents Safe Online

How to keep important documents safe?

It’s a question that’s plagued us since long before the internet entered our lives, back when safe document storage involved placing papers in an old box under the bed.

Today, as the digital space matures, it has led to several new ways to keep documents safe—for businesses looking to enhance collaboration and individuals looking to protect documents like wills, powers of attorney, bank statements, and more.

At the same time, it has brought with it cybersecurity concerns. As hackers use more sophisticated techniques to steal important data, we must understand the risks involved and research the best possible solutions for securing files.

Need help figuring out where to begin? Read on for our tips on how to protect important documents online.

Why You Should Store Documents Online

Is it better to keep documents online or offline?

For individuals, the answer is both. Keeping crucial documents secure involves using a mix of physical storage spaces (safe deposit boxes, offline storage such as USB drives, and cloud-based applications such as Google Drive.)

Combining all three gives you easy access to all files while protecting against theft, fires, and water damage. It also offers a way to preserve crucial paperwork for future generations.

For organizations, secure file storage has become a necessity. This is especially true in sectors that rely heavily on sensitive documentation, such as healthcare and legal.

Some benefits organizations see from storing documents online include:

• Enhanced collaboration
• Improved productivity
• Protection against disasters
• Cost-effectiveness
• Regulatory compliance
• And many more.

How to Keep Important Documents Safe Online

In this cybersecurity climate, passwordless authentication has emerged as a solution to all these challenges. It enhances safety across the board by going after the source of tDigital documents can be stored in cloud-based applications like Google Drive or Dropbox. Digital vaults are applications designed to safely store sensitive digital assets, including documents, images, and crypto-wallets.

Both have their respective benefits: cloud-based solutions are better suited for a large number of documents, while digital vaults have extra security features. For maximum document security and accessibility, some digital vaults also allow you to create encrypted backups to a cloud-based service like Google Drive.

Both options also have drawbacks. Cloud-based solutions cannot be accessed without the internet, often charge a significant amount for extra storage, and are more likely to be targeted by hackers and cybercriminals. Digital vaults have limited storage space and are best suited to protect personal documents, like passports and insurance papers.

Either way, some features to look out for when storing documents online include:

Password Protection

Crucial documents must be password protected, so even if a malicious party somehow does get access to your files, there’s another layer of protection to break through.

Of course, it goes without saying that longer and more complicated passwords offer enhanced security. Passwords should have a solid mix of letters, numbers, and special characters and be unique for each document.

Remembering all these passwords is definitely a challenge. According to a Google poll, 75% of Americans struggle to keep track of their passwords. But this frustration is easily bypassed with the help of a password manager, an application that generates and stores hard-to-crack passwords for its users.

Encryption

Encryption refers to the process of scrambling data and making it incomprehensible to even hackers who manage to get access to it. It makes brute force attacks virtually impossible, and documents only accessible to authorized users with a decryption key.

There are many ways to encrypt digital files, ranging from third-party applications to built-in mechanisms within Windows and Mac.

Many cloud services and digital vaults integrate the highest level of encryption for securing files stored on their platforms. But for an extra layer of protection, it may also help to encrypt files before they are uploaded to these services.

Two-Factor Authentication

Another safe document storage practice involves setting up two-factor authentication. Most cloud-based solutions offer the option of 2FA to add a layer of protection for documents.

This ensures that anyone who wants to access the document must pass through two stages of authentication — including a strong password, fingerprint scan, one-time password, or otherwise. With two-factor authentication, you will be prompted to provide access whenever someone logs in from an unknown device.

So, even if a hacker knew your username and password, they would still need your device or face scan to access your documents.

These three features are crucial when dealing with sensitive files. They enable safe document storage and provide the safest way to send important documents.

The Benefit of Securing Files in a Digital Vault

While cloud services have their benefits, in recent years, digital vaults have emerged as the best way to store digital documents. These applications make protecting your documents their primary goal, offering the highest standards of security.

Most digital vaults automatically password-protect and encrypt documents. They come equipped with two-factor authentication and zero-knowledge architecture, making it virtually impossible for any outsider to gain access to private information.

Some vaults, such as the Personal Privacy Controller Loop8, also double up as password managers, generating and storing complex passwords on your behalf. This eliminates the hassle of having to remember unique passwords for each file while offering bank levels of security protection.

Digital vaults are very easy to use across devices and platforms, and you can securely share important documents with loved ones in case of an emergency. You can also organize your files better, as you only need one platform to act as storage for important documents. All of these benefits come at a very reasonable cost.