|
Press Release
White Paper Highlights Role of Redaction Technology in Ensuring
Secure Information Disclosure
Intelligent Electronic Redaction Software Addresses Legislation
and Disclosure Requirements While Protecting Against Identity
Theft
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — September 3, 2008 Informative Graphics
Corporation, a leading provider of viewing, collaboration and intelligent
redaction technology, today announced the availability of a new white
paper titled Redaction Defined: Meeting Information Disclosure Requests
with Secure Content Delivery. This paper discusses the challenges
of protecting sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers,
while making public information available electronically in response
to federal and state mandates. Using redaction software to automate
the removal of sensitive content or privacy information, along with
any hidden text and metadata, reduces the risk of having such information
inadvertently revealed due to human error. A free copy of the white
paper can be downloaded by going to http://www.redact-it.com/whitepapers.
“Mandates such as the Freedom of Information Act, Openness in Government
Act, and state-enacted Sunshine Laws are pressuring organizations
to make public information available online in a secure manner,” explained
Gary Heath, CEO of Informative Graphics. “Until now technology that
could eliminate privacy information from electronic documents delivered
in bulk has been inadequate; however, advancements in this area now
make online document disclosure a safer and more secure operation.”
The Problem: Accessibility of Sensitive Information
The problem of electronically stored information such as property
and tax records, motor vehicle information, court filings, military
discharges, death certificates, health/medical records, financial
statements, and insurance information falling into the wrong hands
is increasing. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), incidences
of identity theft are on the rise, and are costing businesses more
than $50 billion annually while losses to individuals surpassed $5
billion. Given that the crime of identity theft has immense consequences
to the victims and is both a criminal and civil threat, government
agencies as well as public and private enterprises must be diligent
in protecting against the disclosure of sensitive information to unauthorized
parties.
The Challenge: Protecting Sensitive Information
Traditionally, companies as well as state and local governments have
attempted to protect sensitive information by manually redacting it
using tape and markers. This process is time-consuming and extremely
labor-intensive, and the result may not be entirely accurate. Computer-based
programs that perform manual redaction, while an improvement over
the tape and marker method, are still too labor-intensive and time-consuming
to meet organizations’ needs.
State and local governments are faced with the difficult task of protecting
sensitive information while complying with legislation such as the
Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, and Openness in Government
Act of 2005. The costs to comply are estimated at between $200,000
and $1.6 million per deployment, but these costs are outweighed by
the significant litigation costs and damages resulting from a breach
in security.
The Solution: Automated Intelligent Redaction Software
Automated intelligent redaction software is most efficient for bulk
document processing “and as part of an overall redaction process as
documents enter a workflow,” the Redaction Defined white paper explains.
Intelligent automated redaction solutions should be able to identify
sensitive content by utilizing a text search method, a zone method,
an algorithm, or pattern recognition. The text search method works
best for consistent words or phrases such as variations of word forms
including plural/singular, verb tenses, and misspelled words. The
zone method works best for forms and images, removing a particular
zone on a page as opposed to searching for specific text. The algorithm
method works best in cases where content that should be redacted changes
from document to document such as addresses, phone numbers, and Social
Security numbers; in these cases, the redaction software searches
for a keyword or phrase such as “social security number” and then
redacts the necessary area algorithmically. Finally, the pattern recognition
method searches for text with consistent patterns such as Social Security
numbers in the format xxx-xx-xxxx or phone numbers in the format xxx-xxx-xxx
or (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Based on user-specified requirements, automated intelligent redaction
software uses one of three methods to redact content: covering, encryption
and removal. Covering content means is the least secure method. Encryption
provides more security but the redacted content is still susceptible
to computer hackers. The removal redaction method provides the most
security because it completely removes sensitive content from a file.
The Redaction Defined white paper suggests that organizations consider
the following when choosing redaction software: their current and
anticipated needs including the level of security risk, regulatory
requirements, type and/or volume of documents that need to be redacted,
budget, personnel resources, and the usability of an electronic redaction
product.
About Informative Graphics (www.infograph.com)
Informative Graphics Corporation (IGC),
founded in 1990, is a leading developer of commercial software
products for viewing, collaboration and redaction. IGC products,
including Redact-It and viewing/collaboration/annotation tool
Brava!, are renowned for their cost-saving value, ease-of-use,
features, and scalability and are deployed by thousands of
corporations, law firms, and government entities in the United
States and internationally. IGC maintains offices in the United
States and partners with key distribution partners worldwide.
Contact
###
Note to Editors: Informative Graphics, Brava! and Redact-It are registered
trademarks of Informative Graphics Corporation. All other names are
the properties of their respective owners. |
|
