Fortifying document protection for enterprises

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Deemerwha Studio.

PDF is the de facto industry standard for documents that contain critical and sensitive business information. From financial statements to employee agreements to customer and partner contracts to confidential product blueprints, PDFs support the ever-growing remote and hybrid workforce and enable people to collaborate and work efficiently from anywhere. In fact, Adobe estimates that more than three trillion PDFs are shared every day — between employees, partners, customers, and more.

However, a growing remote and hybrid workforce also means that organizations are increasingly susceptible to cyber-threats and data breaches. The more organizations share documents across the internet, the more they need to be able to trust that their data — and their customers’ data — doesn’t land in the wrong hands. And they need to be sure that they do business with companies that are trusted data guardians that have their best interests in mind.

Adobe is a trustworthy partner that empowers users to focus on creativity and innovation while also helping users protect their data. From individuals who use our free applications, such as Acrobat Reader and the Adobe Scan mobile app, to large enterprises with mission-critical priorities and tight regulatory requirements, organizations can turn to Adobe to help them deliver secure experiences.

Adobe Security

The Adobe Security organization aims to tackle the hardest cybersecurity challenges with an adversary-aware perspective that makes our products and services resilient against ever-changing cyberthreats. Because we continuously innovate our security processes and tools to better respond to evolving adversary behaviors, customers know that Adobe is constantly striving to do our part and help protect their sensitive information and reduce risk.

Adobe was recently named Microsoft’s Security ISV for the year, recognizing our investments in protecting customers’ documents and data and developing innovative security solutions.

“At Adobe, our mission is to deliver exceptional digital experiences built on trust,” said Maarten Van Horenbeeck, Adobe’s chief security officer. “Our commitment to building secure-by-design, secure-by-default products and services makes Adobe a trusted partner to the multitude of enterprises around the world that depend on Adobe Document Cloud for their valuable business data.”

Application security

Acrobat’s application security features include Protected Mode (for PDF document editing and other actions) and Protected View (for PDF document viewing) with sandboxing that mitigates against malicious execution on our users’ devices. Malicious outside-in attachments are often the vector of phishing attacks, which some reports suggest are responsible for approximately 90 percent of data breaches.

Adobe Acrobat is the only PDF solution that offers Protected Mode with Sandboxing to safeguard customers’ environments from attempts to install malware on a computer system. With sandboxing, all PDF document processing, such as PDF and image parsing, font rendering, etc., happens in a highly restrictive environment (sandbox) and the PDF document does not have access to the file system, or other resources of the user device. Protected View and Protected Mode thus add a crucial layer of defense by containing any potential malicious code within the sandbox and preventing infection on user’s system, and consequently, the company’s environment.

Adobe Acrobat also offers enhanced security controls like JavaScript security and allowlists for links and PDFs to further reinforce application security measures and provides customers with granular tools to manage their security posture.

Information protection

Adobe Acrobat provides customers with a variety of tools to help protect their company information in PDF documents. These tools include password protection and encryption so that only the intended recipients can read the content. Acrobat also provides advanced redaction capabilities so customers can even remove the document’s metadata when they need to remove sensitive data from the document distribution.

Integration with Microsoft Purview Information Protection (MPIP) allows customers to add sensitivity labels — such as Confidential, Public, etc. — to PDF documents along with Microsoft 365 document types and enforce consistent company-wide data access policies across all document types. We also offer customers ways to verify document integrity and authenticity with the Adobe PDF Electronic Seal API.

Sturbrige Capital, a niche private equity firm that oversees over $400 million in assets, needed to protect sensitive data and documents internally, as well as with external partners. With Microsoft Purview information labeling for PDFs available inside Adobe Acrobat, they were able to apply protection and improve compliance easily and quickly — with no additional effort by partner organizations. Partners did not have to install plug-ins. They could just use the tools they were already using to open and read the protected PDF documents.

The Adobe Legal team has also improved our own internal workflows by using Adobe Document Cloud to send contracts safeguarded with advanced redaction tools and password protection. The new digital workflow supports thousands of sensitive documents every year and balances security and precision with speed and accessibility, so the Adobe Legal team can spend more time focusing on providing value to clients — rather than paperwork.

Access control

Our access control layer helps customers build a strong perimeter with secure trust and identity. We offer SSO capabilities, enterprise mobile management, and privileged locations so users and administrators can specify trusted content that should be exempt from security restrictions. Adobe Document Cloud solutions use digital signing certificates issued by trust service providers to help you comply with regulations around the world.

Secure link sharing and cloud storage

Adobe cloud storage offers regional data centers in North America, Europe, and Japan with data residency, security, and regulatory compliance. With cloud services, PDF attachments are not required, and customers can view, share and review PDF documents more securely with cloud links. Adobe Document Cloud is integrated with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams; and with Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive cloud storage, so that enterprise users can collaborate on Acrobat PDF files while in the context of their work in Teams, and benefit of Microsoft investments in Microsoft 365 Security.

All these security layers work together to offer enterprises controls to customize and dial up security for documents as needed to meet their specific business and compliance needs. Relying on proven software in Adobe Document Cloud for all knowledge workers offers piece of mind while also enhancing productivity and collaboration.

Adobe Document Cloud is committed to continuously evaluating and making sustained investments in comprehensive data protection for enterprises. At Adobe, we know how high the stakes are for our customers. We strive to protect our customers’ documents and data from threats, both inside and outside of the organization.

How secure and compliant are your business documents? Contact your account representative to learn more or new customers can chat with our sales team today.