A paper leak in the age of high-tech security paper

MANILA, Philippines - Anyone following the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona at the Senate would know how the court labored for days to understand how bank documents of the embattled chief magistrate were leaked to members of the prosecution.

Bank officials were adamant that they had secured the documents in a vault, under lock and key, and were nonplussed when alleged photocopies of the confidential forms were circulated to some congressmen. They also remained very firm in their position that though the reproductions appeared similar to the original documents, there are nevertheless clear differences that qualified the photocopies as “fakes.”

The to-do over the leaked bank documents could have been avoided with the judicious use of technology.

Whether it’s personal or financial information, health records, confidential government information or sensitive corporate data, technology leaders believe that it is critical to deploy solutions that minimize the risk of targeted or opportunistic threats. Failure to do so can bring serious consequences that may expose an organization to liability claims, financial loss and criminal penalties.

For years now, several major technology firms have document security solutions that could have saved the impeachment lawyers, judges and bank officials the burden of knowing the source and authenticity of the leaked documents.

FujiXerox, for example, has cutting-edge electronic and security paper technologies that could prevent data theft from happening in several ways. Not only did this company discover a way to “fingerprint” every sheet of paper, it also developed a technology that incorporates into sheets of plain paper extra-fine amorphous magnetic wires that work with sensors that will send out alarms upon detection of unauthorized movement of classified document printed on this special paper.

To tell every sheet apart, researchers at FujiXerox in Japan carefully studied the entangled, random patterns of natural fibers found in paper, keeping in mind that finding identical patterns would be very low. They also noted that the fiber patterns do not crumble even if the sheets of paper are folded nor do they change over time.

With a camera they then process and store in a database the obtained images where they can be easily retrieved, scanned and matched with high accuracy with other registered paper for identification. FujiXerox believes the paper fingerprint technology can be practically applied for management of confidential documents and for preventing contracts, certificates and other important documents from being forged.

As for the built-in magnetic wire onto the security paper, FujiXerox made it thinner than a strand of human hair — only 40 microns in diameter — but powerful enough to send immediate warning signals to sensors that a bank, for example, can install at points of entry and exit. The unauthorized handling of the sensitive document can be further thwarted by the automatic closing of gates or doors and even having e-mails instantaneously sent to security administrators and officers.

FujiXerox has also shown that sensors can be mounted on scanners, copiers and paper shredders to prevent them from exactly performing their key functions when sensitive documents are involved. Such technology can help safeguard against intentional information leaks as well as accidental losses of information.

The special security paper works normally with FujiXerox’s multi-function devices and printers.

Additionally, FujiXerox has developed a Document Security and Traceability (DST) technology that enables users to manage security of paper and electronic documents in a single environment. This is not something new; years ago, in 2008 to be exact, top researchers from FujiXerox demonstrated to technology journalists from the region how the use of DST will allow organizations to set operating rights, including viewing and printing rights, to each document and user as well as to carefully manage the operation history of each document.

The DST technology gives a document ID to a scanned paper document so that every operation it undergoes can be logged. The DST also lets security administrators to give paper documents different levels of security stamps. When scanned on a multi-function device, a security level will automatically be assigned to the document in accordance with the stamp that might say “confidential” or “for internal use only.” In this way, only users with usage rights can access the scanned electronic document.

Sharp security suite

Sharp is another Japanese company with a multi-layer document security solution aimed at helping companies protect their data and be compliant with stringent laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB), and Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), to protect medical, consumer and financial records, respectively.

Sharp’s security suite solution addresses every link in the workflow chain where the use of multi-function printers is involved. It delves on technologies for securing data, access control, network, fax, document, and even audit trail.

Sharp’s multi-function printers have an option for a so-called Data Security Kit (DSK) to protect and control these devices from wrong users. The DSK uses the 128/156 bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm on all data before it is written to the RAM (random access memory) and the hard disk. The DSK also provides overwriting routines for deleted data to help ensure all information is virtually irretrievable by the wrong users.

Furthermore, Sharp printers can utilize account codes, access cards, user/group profiles, passwords or external user accounts contained in an active directory server so all user credentials can be further established to help avoid interception.

Sharp printers also feature an intelligent network interface that can limit access to specific computers on a network by selectively enabling or disabling any protocol or service port on each device.

Sharp also guarantees secure transmission of all communications to and from the multi-function printers over the network with the open use of different network security protocols.

Sharp also provides a logical separation between the fax telephone line and local area network connected to the multi-function printers to make it virtually impossible for prohibited access to the internal systems of the multi-function printer or the local network.

Using encryption technologies, Sharp offers ways for companies to protect their sensitive documents from being illegally scanned and printed or even forwarded by e-mail.

In addition, the company’s multi-function printer offers an internal audit trail, and/or third-party application software such as Equitrac Office software that provides comprehensive auditing of all user activity. Certain federal regulations parameters, such as “to,” “from,” “when” and “file name” can be logged, reviewed and archived for conformance.

Clearly, both FujiXerox and Sharp’s security paper and printer solutions have gone beyond the mere use of watermarked paper on which the words “Classified Document” appear when photocopied.

It is clear, too, that in the light of recent events government and private organizations in the country have not invested in any of these risk-aversion technologies that could protect information assets from being ferreted out by unscrupulous people like the alleged “small lady” who anonymously handed a congressman facsimiles of Corona’s bank records.