Document Management and Security - Continued

In my previous article, I discussed the general security tenets and how to apply them to the planning stages of an ECM/Document Management Project. The focus of this article will be some additional focus areas when examining a system, and what to look for in a vendor.

When evaluating an ECM or Document Management System on its security features and functions, there are five key areas:

Identification
This is the process in which the system identifies the user. Most DMS/ECM Systems have the ability to identify users upon access to the system. This step is key to the below areas of focus.

Authentication
This step verifies and validates the user’s identity. Most ECM/DM software provides the ability to authenticate to standard user repositories (Windows Active Directory and LDAP), but this functionality is usually an additional module, or specialized product.

Accountability
More and more legislation is being passed to ensure organizations can provide audit trails and detailed logs on user activity and record activity within an ECM system. Accountability is just that, the ability of a system to provide a record of all transactions and activity within the repository. This is critical for organizations within certain verticals (health care, finance, etc.). Once again, the majority of products on the market include some sort of basic logging, but there are usually add on modules for “enhanced logging and auditing”.

Authorization
After a user has been authenticated, the system will grant them the appropriate rights and permissions within the repository. This is a critical requirement, as you would not want Operations personnel accessing Accounting or HR files. Some systems provide even further granular control to not only restrict access, but also to restrict the use of certain functions and features within the application. This is accomplished through the use of roles or groups to which users can be assigned.

Privacy
Of all the areas listed, this is usually most difficult, and requires security controls outside of the ECM/DM system. Privacy ensures that all user activity remains private and confidential. This can be accomplished through encryption of all traffic to and from the system, and proper security controls on the workstation and server.


Security is often overlooked when selecting and planning for an ECM/DM implementation. The five areas above comprise key areas of focus when evaluating ECM/DM technologies.

Stephen Boals, CISSP
sboals@scanguru.com
http://www.scanguru.com/

Document Management and Security

As with most technical endeavors, it seems that with the majority of Document Management projects, security is always an afterthought. Paper documents are an important asset to an organization, and once they are moved into the digital realm, even more attention should be placed on their security. Would you place an unlocked file cabinet with all your confidential customer information in the middle of Grand Central Station? This article will be the first on how to involve Information Security (InfoSec) from the beginning of your Document Management/ECM project, to the end and in implementation and maintenance.
To start with, as in any technical project, the three basic tenets of InfoSec should be considered: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability.

Confidentiality

The basic premise of the Confidentiality tenet is to prevent unintentional or intentional disclosure of information. In the planning stages, steps need to be taken to arrange the correct controls on your digital documents. The need exists to analyze the types of documents that will be stored online, and who needs to access them. Any system that is being considered to manage the security of the documents should have the ability to control access, rights and privileges. Care should be taken to mitigate risk, and protect all confidential information.

Integrity

What does integrity mean? In a nutshell, a system will be required to prevent unauthorized alteration of the data. In the case of a Document Management System, the data includes the image or file and the information about that file (metadata). There needs to be the ability to control who can alter data (update a record), and who cannot based on specific users or groups. In some industries (financial), the ability to write data to unalterable media will be required so changes cannot be made. In planning, it is necessary to examine the Integrity tenet, and insure the system you examine has all the capabilities to prevent alteration.

Availability

What good is a system if you cannot access your information? Availability goes way beyond just having the information available to users. It is what happens behind the scenes to insure the greatest possible redundancy and in-depth disaster recovery planning. It includes everything from having a redundant disk subsystem, to having a restore plan in the case of a disaster. Availability planning is paramount to the success of any Document Management system.
These three basic tenets of InfoSec must be a requirement of any Document Management or Enterprise Content Management project. They must be carried through all the project phases: Planning, Implementation and Maintenance.
Stephen Boals, CISSP sboals@scanguru.com http://www.scanguru.com/