secure m&a information

Finance – Secure M&A Data

Secure M&A due diligence & sensitive financial documents & information


Protect PDF documents no matter where they reside:

  • Stop unauthorized access
  • Stop sharing and distribution
  • Strong US Gov strength encryption, DRM and licensing controls

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  Secure sensitive financial information from disclosure: data privacy & security in M&A transactions

  Key requirements for protection of M&A documents and due-diligence information

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) revolve around the controlled disclosure of documents from a ‘seller’ to potential ‘purchasers’.  Or more accurately between those and also their authorized agents (commonly law firms and bankers and venture capitalists).

They are an interesting balancing act between having to make what can be fairly onerous disclosures, or you may later be held to have misled the parties, and yet not have the details leak out into the market or become available to competitors of the organizations involved.

To satisfy other controls you may need to demonstrate which parties had looked at which documents, and that their access to and use of the documents stopped on specified dates – bidding rounds – and may be extended to more serious players or where takeover rules require it.

And most importantly, you need to ensure access to sensitive information ceases automatically after a certain timeframe and that documents can be revoked at any time regardless of where they are located.

  Why not document encryption or secure deal rooms for secure document exchange?

Traditionally encryption has been used to protect M&A data by preventing unauthorized access to documents.  But that is as far as it goes.  Once a document has been decrypted a user has full control of the document including the ability to pass it on to others.

Secure data rooms (also called secure deal rooms or virtual data rooms) are often advertised as the best solution to secure M&A due-diligence information.  However they are not as secure as they might first seem.

Secure deal room security issues include:

  1. they rely on password authentication – users can share login information with others and therefore access to your protected documents
  2. content is unprotected on the server, secured only during transfer (SSL), and then cached locally on user’s computers in temporary files where it could be recovered
  3. you have to upload unprotected documents to a cloud server where they could be compromized
  4. they do not prevent printing to file drivers (i.e. users can create a PDF file by printing to a PDF printer) or stop screen grabbing applications

In addition, users must be online to view documents which may not always be convenient.

  Using document DRM to protect M&A documents: secure mergers information & stop disclosure

Locklizard document security provides the controls you need in order to realise the sometimes conflicting requirements of protecting sensitive M&A documents and information.

  1. Specific machines are licensed, rather than anonymous people logging into a web or cloud based system, so the control is greater, and covers PCs, Macs and BYOD devices as well.
  2. Access to documents can be stopped and started at any time, even though the documents are downloaded onto machines for performance reasons.  So if a new version of a document is produced, access to the old one can be stopped immediately and the new one made available without having to alter customer records.
  3. Logs of document use are available that link to individual licenses/machines, and they can be downloaded in csv format for your own analysis and backup.
  4. Documents may be grouped into families (publications) and access to them granted at the publication level as well as the document level.  So administering authorised user access is made much simpler.

Naturally, the overall control of such systems is very important, and you can install the whole system on your own server and under your own control so that you are always in charge of the systems and the data.

Why Locklizard to protect M&A documents & sensitive financial information & data?

Locklizard document DRM provides a stronger alternative to encryption & secure dealing rooms for total protection of M&A documents, due diligence, sensitive financial information & data.

  • No Passwords

    There are no passwords for users to enter so they cannot be shared.  Keys are transparently and securely transferred to authorized devices and locked to those devices.

    So unlike secure deal rooms, users cannot share access information, and therefore your ‘protected’ documents with others.

    You do not have to worry about managing and distributing keys since key management is handled transparently for you.

  • Secure Distribution

    Full control over document distribution:

    • Secure documents on your local computer – no uploading of unprotected files to a server.  You therefore retain full control over unprotected documents and ensure they can never be exposed to the wrong people.

    • Distribute secure documents just like any other file – upload them to a cloud server, your web site, send by email etc.

  • DRM Controls

    DRM controls to ensure documents cannot be copied or shared and you retain full control over them at all times.

    • Stop screen grabbing – stops users taking high quality screen grabs using screen grabbing tools.  Cloud hosted secure dealing room systems CANNOT stop screen grabbing because they do not install any software on the client device.

    • Stop printing (or limit the number of prints).  If printing is allowed then we automatically prevent printing to file drivers (e.g. PDF files) – this is NOT possible to prevent with cloud hosted secure dealing room systems.

    • Stop editing and copying of content.

    • Expire documents after a number of days use, views, prints, or on a fixed date.

    • Revoke documents and user access instantly (regardless of where they are located).

    • Allow offline use – no forcing of users to be online to view protected documents.

  • Device & location locking

    Control the devices and locations your protected documents can be accessed from.

    • Automatically locks document use to authorized devices to prevent sharing.

    • Control the number of devices for each user that your protected documents can be used on.

    • Lock use to locations to control where your protected documents can be used from (e.g. office only).

  • Dynamic Watermarks

    Add dynamic watermarks to viewed and/or printed pages.  Dynamic variables are replaced by user data at print/view time.

    You only have to protect a document once for all users rather than having to protect documents individually for each user in order to display unique user information (name, email, etc.).

  • Track & Log Document Use

    See when documents are viewed and printed, by whom, where and when.

  • Simple to use

    Our document security software is simple to use – protect documents by right clicking on them in Windows Explorer.

    Manage users and document access via our web-based administration system.

    Automate document protection, user management and document access with our command line and API tools.

  • Cost Savings

    No charges per document or user – just a one off fee for unlimited documents and users.

Total security of financial information: secure M&A due diligence documents & data

Securely share M&A due diligence documents, sensitive financial information & data with third parties

Locklizard document protection uses US Gov strength AES encryption, public key technology, DRM and licensing controls, to ensure your PDF files remain protected no matter where they reside.

  • Our DRM PDF Security products enable you to share documents securely without insecure passwords or plug-ins, and enforce access, location, expiry, and usage controls.
  • Unlike Adobe Permissions which can be easily removed, our DRM controls persistently protect your PDF files and enable you to revoke PDFs at any time regardless of where they are.
  • No keys are exposed to users or interfaces and documents are only ever decrypted in memory (no temporary files are used) – see our DRM technology.
  • Our easy to use adminsitration system provides simple user and document management and unlike passwords, keys are transparently and securely managed for you.
  • Protect due diligence, compliance, litigation, and corporate transactions by locking them to authorized devices and locations – stop sharing and control use.
  • Enforce secure M&A document exchange and use – stop unauthorized access, stop copying, editing, and printing, track and log document use.

See our customer testimonials and read our case studies to see why thousands of organizations use Locklizard PDF security to securely share M&A data and protect sensitive financial documents.

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