external document control software

External Document Control

External Document Control: control access, sharing & distribution

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How Locklizard can help with External Document Control

Locklizard enables you to control document access and use for secure external document sharing and distribution

  • Prevent document sharing & distribution

    Locklizard document security stops users sharing documents (PDF files) with others by locking them to authorized devices.

    If you use passwords to protect documents then users can easily share both the document and the password with others.

    With Locklizard, keys to open protected documents are securely and transparently relayed to authorized users devices where they are stored in a secure keystore (encrypted and locked to the device).

    If a protected document is given to an unauthorized user, they won’t be able to open it since it is encrypted.  To stop users sharing their keystore (where decryption keys are securely stored), it is locked to their individual device(s) and if it is copied to another device it will stop working.

  • Prevent copying, editing and printing

    Locklizard DRM controls automatically stop users performing actions on external documents that could aid in unauthorized copying and distribution.  They:

    • Stop copying and pasting
    • Stop document editing / modifying
    • Stop screen grabbing
    • Prevent printing (or you can limit the number of prints)
    • If you enable printing then we prevent printing to file drivers (stopping printing to PDF file drivers for example prevents users creating PDF files)
    • Stop saving of documents into unprotected formats
  • Lock documents to locations

    There may be occassions when you do not want confidential documents to be made available outside an authorized premises.  With BYOD this has become a significant problem to try and solve.

    Locklizard document security enables you to lock documents to specific locations so that documents will only be viewable from this location and no other.

    Location locking can be enabled on a global and user basis and at both country and IP levels.  User location information is automatically retreived by the system so you don’t have to worry about entering it.

  • Watermark Documents

    Locklizard document security enables you to apply dynamic watermarks to documents that automatically insert the users name, email, company name, and a date/time stamp at print time to discourage sharing of printed documents since the originator of those documents is clearly identifiable.  Similarly, these dynamic variables can be inserted at view time to discourage photos of the screen being taken with a camera and distributed.

    Because Locklizard DRM software uses dynamic variables, you only have to protect a single document for all users.  With Acrobat PDF security you have to protect each PDF file individually for each user in order to customize it with their user details.

  • Automatically expire documents

    There are many reasons you may want to expire documents such as:

    • to comply with document retention policies
    • to enforce version control
    • enforcing complying with disclosure requirements

    Locklizard document security enables you to automatically expire documents either on a given date or following document usage rules:

    • After a number of views
    • After a number of days
    • On a fixed date
    • After a number of prints
    • At any time you decide
  • Revoke document access

    Being able to revoke access to documents can be vital when confidential documents have been distributed and you want to ensure they are no longer viewable.

    Locklizard document security enables you to revoke user and document access at any time ensuring your external documents are always under your control.

  • Track document use

    Tracking if or when a document has been opened or printed can be essential for accountability or audit purposes.  You may need to prove that the recipient has not only received the protected document but has also read and/or printed it.

    LockLizard document security enables you to track and monitor document use by recording all document opens and prints and displaying the number of times each document has been opened and printed by whom, where and when.

  • Simple & secure external document distribution

    Locklizard document security is simple to use and easy to integrate with your existing document management systems.

    • Secure documents on your local computer – no uploading of unprotected files to a server
    • Distribute protected documents just like any other file – upload them to a cloud server, your web site, send by email or distribute on CD, USB, etc.
    • Manage user and document access via our cloud hosted administration system (hosted by us or by you on your own premises)
    • Automate document protection for speed, simple integration and consistent document controls
    • No passwords or login credentials for users to share with others or for you to manage

Locklizard takes your document control seriously.  Securely share and distribute documents externally with third parties without insecure passwords or plug-ins, and enforce access, location, expiry, and usage controls.  Our DRM technology ensures your PDF documents remain safe no matter where they reside with US Gov Strength encryption, licensing, and DRM controls.  Document content is decrypted in memory and no temporary files are used.

Control external documents with document control software

External document control is a method for controlling documents that are external to you, or for controlling internal documents that are going to be sent outside your organizational controls.

Here we are considering the case of documents that are created under your control and are being sent outside – external document sharing and external document distribution.

The commonest form of controls to be applied to external documents is none at all.  Whether document encryption has been applied or not, once an authorized recipient has a document they may do anything they like to and with it.  The vast majority of information on web sites or held as electronic documents or databases has no controls applied to it once it is outside the immediate control of the organization.

This is often not a satisfactory state of affairs.  There are many reasons why the creator of a document would want to apply external controls to documents.  Perhaps the most important control wanted is the ability to prevent others from sharing the content with unauthorized parties or altering the document and perhaps misrepresenting its content(s).  Other additional controls providing digital rights management (DRM) may be necessary to make sure documents expire after a certain period of time.

External document controls are not easy to apply.  If documents are prepared using the customary tools and services (a word processing package, a web page creation tool, a presentation package, a picture creating tool) then these usually have no controls at all, allowing the user full control over the contents.  So if control of external documents is going to be implemented, it must be in such a form that the recipient of a controlled document is not able to use normal tools such as those outlined above, in order to process it.  Because if they can process it with normal tools it is most likely they can do anything they like with the document.

So external document controls that do not rely upon a program quite separate from the one that created the document are not likely to work, and, of course, the format of the file the document is held in must not allow ready processing of the content either.  Because you cannot have external document control if the file that contains the document can be read by anyone.  As a result, external document protection also requires encryption in order ensure that controls are not trivial to bypass.

   Download external document control software

Secure external document sharing and secure external document distribution with DRM security

Download external document control software that uses digital rights management (DRM) controls and US Government approved AES encryption to prevent unauthorized use and misuse of your external documents.

Ensure complete control over your documents regardless of their location – enable secure external document sharing and distribution.  Locklizard document DRM controls what users can view your documents, what they can do with them (copy, print, etc.) and when they can no longer be viewed (expire).  Revoke access at any time.

Read our customer testimonials and case studies to see why thousands of organizations use Locklizard document security to securely share and distribute their documents.

Customer Testimonials