Reasons Why Businesses Use Password-Protected Pdfs

There are many reasons why businesses use password-protected PDFs. They’re a great way to keep contracts confidential, comply with regulatory requirements, and share information with partners or associates. However, there’s one reason that trumps all others: they’re an excellent way to keep unauthorized users from accessing sensitive documents by brute force attacks on their passwords.

To keep contracts confidential

Password-protected PDFs are used to keep contracts confidential. For example, a customer may be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before purchasing your product or service. If you use password-protected PDFs for contracts with customers, then only those who have signed the NDA will be able to see all of the terms and conditions of your contract with them. This protects against the disclosure of trade secrets or other information that could be used to harm your business if it was made public knowledge.

To comply with regulatory requirements

Businesses that are regulated by federal and state laws must protect sensitive information. These regulations include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Code of Conduct, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999 or any other applicable law or regulation.

To share information with partners or associates

There are several reasons why businesses use password-protected PDFs. The most common is to share information with partners or associates. You may need to send confidential information to your contractors and employees, or you may want to give your clients access to specific files on the website. Another reason is that you’re using a controlled method of sharing the information so that the recipients only get what they need without giving them access to other parts of the system.

To allow partial access to sensitive documents

Another reason why businesses use password-protected PDFs is to allow partial access to sensitive documents. When you need a document that is only accessible to certain individuals, this can be a useful tool in your arsenal. You might want one person in the company to have full control of editing the document while another has limited access, like being able to view or save it. Or maybe you only want some users in your company able to print out certain documents but not edit them or save copies of them on their computers.

To secure files against brute force attacks

A brute force attack is when someone tries to access a computer or server by trying every possible password combination. The process is much easier for systems that use common passwords, but it’s extremely difficult for files protected by strong passwords.

As per Adobe Acrobat’s professionals, “A PDF document with a strong password can be made even harder to crack using encryption, which scrambles the data in the file so that only authorized users can read it.” You can also add additional security features like digital signatures and certificates to ensure that only trusted parties are able to view your files securely.

Hope that this article has helped you understand why businesses use password protection for PDF. There are many reasons why a business would want to secure its files from unauthorized access. Hopefully, you now feel more confident about your ability to make informed decisions on file security measures for your organization.