Advances in technology have radically transformed the way we store and manage our information. The digital safe is an essential tool that has established itself as an essential solution to guarantee the security, integrity, and sustainability of digital documents, whether intended for private or public companies. Discover what are the fundamental principles of the digital safe, its challenges for organizations, its advantages as well as the standards in force.
Fundamental principles of a Digital Safe (CFN):
- Data integrity: A CFN ensures the integrity of digital documents by using mechanisms to protect against corruption, modification, or accidental loss of data. The stored data remains unchanged and unaltered over time.
- Authenticity of the documents: The authenticity of the CFN software component is guaranteed thanks to traceability and digital fingerprinting methods. For the scanned paper document to have the same probative value as its digital equivalent deposited in the safe, you must ensure that the scanning process complies with standard Z42-026.
- Durability of documents: Digital vaults are designed to store documents over extended periods of time. They make it possible to maintain the availability of information, regardless of technological developments.
What are the challenges of an electronic safe:
For private and public companies, the challenges associated with electronic safes are multiple:
- Legal compliance: Digital safes make it possible to meet legal requirements for document retention, personal data protection, and digital evidence.
- Safety: Sensitive data is protected in a robust manner, thus reducing the risks associated with data loss, information leaks, and cyberattacks.
- Operational efficiency: Fast access to stored documents eliminates the need to manage huge paper archives, improving productivity.
- Durability: Paper documents are vulnerable to natural disasters. Digital safes guarantee the sustainability of information, even in the event of a disaster.
What is the purpose of a CFN?
The ultimate objective of a digital safe is to ensure that digital documents have the same evidentiary value as a paper original. They should be accepted as indisputable legal evidence, equivalent to physical documents, in courts, regulatory authorities, and in commercial transactions.
As a result, the benefits of a digital safe are numerous.
security
Data security remains a top priority for businesses, and digital safes are emerging as an essential solution to ensure protection. The digital safe encrypts all the data stored in it and only those who have the decryption key can access it. The data is thus perfectly secure.
The digital safe thus offers an unparalleled level of security for the most important confidential information.
An eco-responsible commitment
In addition to security, digital safes offer a major advantage in terms of eco-responsibility. By opting for online storage, businesses are actively contributing to reducing their environmental footprint by abandoning the use of paper and ink. This approach is perfectly in line with “zero waste” policies and frees up the space formerly dedicated to paper document storage units.
Reduced operational costs
The transition to a digital safe means a significant reduction in operational costs. By eliminating the need to print documents, buy paper, ink, and maintain printers, businesses realize significant savings.
Valorization of the company's image
Beyond practical aspects, choosing a digital safe contributes to the enhancement of the company's image. By demonstrating its commitment to safety, sustainability and operational efficiency, a company strengthens its reputation as a reliable, secure, and resolutely modern entity. In short, the move to digital safes is not only a pragmatic evolution, but also a winning strategy for businesses looking to thrive in a constantly changing business environment.
How does a digital safe work?
Digital sealing
Documents can be deposited in a safe from a EDM software, a business application or manually. Once the documents are deposited in the digital safe, they immediately undergo a digital sealing process. The timestamp is then used to certify the precise date of the deposit. Finally, the software performs a footprint calculation in order to guarantee the integrity of the documents, thus ensuring that they are not altered over time.
Secure archiving
Documents archived in digital vaults are subject to rigorous procedures to ensure their continued security and integrity. These procedures include
- Periodic integrity checks
The stored data is subject to regular checks to ensure its integrity. These periodic checks ensure that the documents have not undergone any unauthorized alteration since their initial deposit.
- Traceability
Digital safes ensure complete traceability of actions performed on documents. Each interaction is recorded, allowing the evolution of the files to be monitored and any suspicious or unauthorized activity to be identified.
- Managing user actions
A crucial aspect of the security of digital vaults lies in the accurate management of user actions. Every access, modification, or deletion is logged, providing full visibility into activities related to archived documents.
The digital safe, for which use cases?
The digital safe can be used to store numerous vital documents for a business. It can be:
- Of invoices
- Accounting documents
- Documents related to human resources management (employment contract, orders, pay slip) and tax documents
- Commercial documents
- Contracts, patents
- Etc.
What are the standards in force?
The AFNOR NF 203 certification verifies the compliance of a digital safe with the NF Z42-020 standard. It makes it possible to verify that the functional specificities of the digital safe guarantee the integrity and traceability of the digital objects deposited there.
The digital safe, guaranteeing the reliability of documents
Digital safes are essential to ensure the reliability of digital documents, for both private and public businesses. They complement EDM by ensuring the integrity, authenticity, and sustainability of data, and play a crucial role in digital transformation by meeting security, compliance, and operational efficiency needs. The combination of an EDM for the daily management of documents and a digital safe for their long-term protection constitutes a comprehensive strategy for document management in today's digital world.
