Humans can’t be replaced, but some of their bad habits should be

In his book, Humans are Underrated, Geoff Colvin argues that while technology is profoundly reordering the value of human skills and many people will continue to lose their jobs to technology, the economy will reward people with skills of human interaction – skills like empathy, collaborating, storytelling, leading, creating and innovating with others. In business, there remains a role for humans that machines just cannot replicate.

Given that you can’t (and shouldn’t) remove people from your business, it’s important therefore to provide adequate training on document security to help create a culture of security, and implement processes that make it easier for people to always act with security in mind when it comes to document storage, transportation and disposal. Insiders are often the cause of data security breaches, but this is frequently inadvertent and offers no personal gain to the individuals concerned – it’s just an error. By having the right systems and training in place, you can reduce the likelihood of these mistakes happening.

But when 95% of all security incidents involve human error (according to IBM’s  Cyber Security Intelligence Index), it’s clear that when it comes to document security reducing human involvement is a good strategy. Giving equal priority to people, processes and technology is the best way to increase information and document security.

Having secure bins for document disposal to make it easy for your team members is one step that you can take. One study found that 21% of data breaches involved paper records. A high volume of paper can leave your business susceptible to either theft, damage or destruction. Inadequately disposing of paperwork can expose your business and your clients to further security breaches. By making it easier for people to do the right thing, you can help to reduce the risks of human error.

Contact us to put the technology and processes in place to make it easier for your people to keep and dispose of documents securely.