Did you know that a total of 37 billion records were compromised due to data breaches in 2020? Yes, even after tremendous improvements in online data security protocols, data leaks were still one of the biggest concerns for businesses around the world. What’s more, one of the five common reasons behind these data breaches was not using multi-factor authentication features.
Can you leave your business data at the mercy of just one password? Well, this is what a lot of professionals and businesses did, and the results were horrific. Data security is still a concern for many companies around the world, and only reliable data management solutions like virtual data rooms can minimize the chances of data leaks.
Have you ever heard about data room software before? Here is what you need to know about virtual data rooms and how they keep your business data safe.
What is a digital data room?
A virtual or digital data room is basically a secure and remotely accessible online data storage place where professionals and businesses of any type can store and manage their important business documents, including financial statements, employees’ records, contracts, agreements, deeds, tax records, etc.
An electronic data room is a feature-rich virtual workplace where your workforce can collaborate in a highly secure environment. Modern dataroom software such as Dealroom, iDeals, Merrill, etc., can be used as virtual deal rooms to carry out complex business arrangements such as IPOs, asset acquisition, M&As, and fundraising.
What are the security features in virtual data rooms?
You might think, how does a virtual data room keep your data safe? Why is it different from others? Modern VDRs have high-end security features that you will rarely find in other data management solutions. Here is a complete list of the most notable VDR security features.
1. Physical security features
Every licensed virtual data room complies with rigid physical security standards. Here are some of them.
- High-quality infrastructure components. The hardware used in data rooms can give up to 99.5% uptime.
- Disaster recovery. Whenever a user uploads a document in the virtual data room, its copies are automatically stored in multiple remote data centers, making the document disaster-proof.
- Data encryption. Virtual data room providers use high-end encryption (256-bit) to maximize data intactness.
- Servers at multiple locations. The chances of losing data decrease significantly because of having data centers at multiple locations.
2. Document security features
Not only do you not have to worry about the physical security of your business data, but an electronic data room also gives you complete control of your business documents. Here are some amazing document security features in modern VDRs.
- Fence view. Fence view protects your documents from unauthorized photography, scanning, and screenshots.
- File access rights. The data room management can define or set the roles of the users in the data room. These roles define what a user can do to documents in the VDR. In other words, it defines whether a user can download, edit, or print any file or not.
- Digital watermarking. Digital watermarks help trace the originator of any file or document. It can also trace the IP address of any user who altered or tried to change the document.
- No footprints. VDRs restrict any user from copying any document while viewing it, and the file is removed from the memory or browsing history of the device used.
- Remote purging. Remote purging or wiping allows the data room administrator to delete all the data room files from a stolen or lost device.
- Remote shred. This feature gives data room management complete control over any file or document even after a user downloads it.
3. Access security features
As businesses use VDRs to store financial or classified business information, the data room administration can choose who should be given access to the VDR and how to manage it. You will find the below-mentioned features in every high-grade dataroom software.
- Customized document permission. The administration can decide who can or cannot access or change any particular folder, document, or section of any document.
- Permission settings. Data rooms allow the administration to select who can see a document or a part of it.
- Two-step verification. Two-step verification requires the user to log in after entering the password and a single-use code.
- Audit trails. Audit trails provide a complete record of any data room activity second-by-second. The administration can keep track of who did what, when, and where.
- IP address and time restrictions. In order to prevent data breaches, the administration can limit access time and restrict any particular IP address from accessing the data room.
These multiple layers of security protect your business data from internal and external threats, and it is highly recommended to never ever compromise on these features.
There are hundreds of data room services available in the market, but not all of them are trustable. Therefore, before choosing a service provider, always look for virtual data room pricing, security features, vendor’s data protection certifications, customer support service, and user-intuitiveness. Most importantly, don’t forget to ask for free trials.
Final words
Protecting your important business data must be your top priority, and virtual data rooms can help you do that. A digital data room employs multiple security layers at various levels to keep your data safe. On top of that, data rooms are easy to use and budget-friendly and can prove to be a valuable asset for your business.
