The trend towards ever more digitalization is leading to an accumulation of sensitive digital documents: confidential documents, supporting documents or electronically signed contracts to be conserved for several years. The average volume of data held by companies jumped 40% between 2018 and 2020. However, these sensitive documents are still often stored on unsecured local equipment or Cloud software, and even in paper file cabinets.
This presents many risks. The integrity, confidentiality and probative value of the information is not ensured: the company is exposed to loss, theft, damage, falsification and even destruction (burglary, hacking, espionage, water damage, etc.). Barely 31% of French companies say they have confidence in their backup solutions, while the vast majority (73%) recognize that they are unable to meet their users’ data access requirements. The consequences for businesses from such incidents can be immense, and even irreparable.
5 reasons why you should have an archiving system with probative value
1) An EAS (Electronic Archiving System) is the most secure file retention system
Archiving with probative value in an electronic safe makes it possible to preserve and secure identical data for decades thanks to a highly secure infrastructure. Archiving is a regulated activity and is subject to numerous certifications.
Arkinheo, the leading French archiver and a Closd partner, provides a service that is compliant with SOC, ISO 27001, NF461 and eIDAS standards. Its service, which is integrated on Closd, guarantees through proper security provisions (encryption, access control, recording and timestamping of actions, etc.) the integrity, availability, accuracy and traceability of stored data and documents in the electronic safe.
In application of the highest security measures and in guarantee of the protection of personal data, the third-party archiver only controls the format of the files and cannot access the content of the documents it secures, thus guaranteeing the confidentiality of the archived data.
2) Businesses are experiencing more data breaches
A recent study carried out by Dell reveals that 35% of the companies surveyed experienced data loss during the last twelve months, while 23% say they experienced an event that completely blocked access to their data during the same period. In addition, 64% of organizations feel that they are not confident in their ability to fully recover in case of a data breach and 62% are not meeting their goals regarding data backup and recovery.
According to numerous studies, companies exposed to data loss suffer immense financial consequences, both in the short term (replacement of equipment, investigation and recovery of data, loss of customers, legal actions, etc.) and in the long term (company reputation, increase in insurance premiums, loss of competitive edge, etc.). On top of this, these consequences are often difficult to assess and come with many hidden costs.
The increased risk, coupled with the exponential increase in the sheer amount of data held by companies, further underscores the need for simple and easily accessible data conservation tools.
3) Documents signed electronically will be presumed to be integrous, even several decades from now
The probative value of electronically signed documents requires compliance with several legal requirements. As soon as archives are deposited in the safe on Closd, the third-party archiver performs various operations in order to verify the origin of the document (metadata check, timestamp, imprint calculation, sealing, etc.).
Through this, the third-party archiver guarantees their (i) traceability (creation, consultation, modification, deletion), (ii) data confidentiality through strict access control, (iii) their integrity, or the fact that they were not modified since they were deposited into the archive, and (iv) their durability, by keeping them on carriers that are updated over time.
Documents signed electronically therefore retain their probative value, just like a paper document kept in a physical safe that only you have the key to. This will be a decisive advantage when, years after signing a contract, the need arises for a company to exhume it, enforce clauses or deal with litigation.
4) An immediate return on investment
Closd has integrated Arkhineo into its cloud-based solution and allows immediate access to one or more vaults without any additional IT development or equipment. The simplicity of the interface allows immediate implementation of the tool for all employees, without a need for training. You can access your data anywhere, from any device, at any time. Your sensitive documents and data are protected, even when your IT environment changes.
5) A centralized tool
Digitalization does not mean an accumulation of software! Thanks to the addition of this new building block in the Closd ecosystem, our clients can centralize every stage of their projects on one single, powerful and intuitive tool.
Conducting audits, contractual negotiations, project management, secure electronic signatures and now archiving with probative value: Closd supports you from A to Z on all of your projects.
