What Do Secure Printing Solutions Look Like?

Keep Your Document Printing Secure

How do you know that your documents are being handled, printed, and mailed safely?

This guide makes it easier to find out.

Throughout this blog, we’ll discover the protocols that print and mail vendors put in place to safeguard client data. These controls include end-to-end encryption, individual mailpiece tracking, and company-wide security training.

D4 Solutions’ Secure Document Printing Checklist, provided at the beginning of this post, helps you analyze your print processes. If your workflows contain all the elements on this checklist, then they do an effective job of keeping your clients’ information protected.

We’ve also gathered additional insights about each item on the checklist, so that you can explore further.

Finally, we’ve completed a guide to our production workflows, showing you how a real firm delivers secure printing solutions in practice on the print floor.

Ready to learn more? Let’s dive in!

Secure Document Printing Checklist

Do you need a quick guide to help you check if your printing workflows keep client data safe? This checklist encompasses security measures that your print and mail provider should implement during the process. They include:

• End-to-end encryption of files, in transit and at rest.
• Multi-factor authentication for employees.
• Role-based access control.
• Badge access control.
• 2D barcode/QR code tracking throughout the production facility.
• Mailpiece tracking throughout the delivery process.
• Data redundancy.
• External audits to prove compliance with frameworks such as HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II.
• External risk assessments.
• Company-wide security trainings.
• Penetration testing.
• SIEM systems.
• Real-time alerts and incident response teams.

Want to dive deeper into what the items on this checklist are and why they matter? Read on for our in-depth guide to keeping client data protected during the printing process.

What Do Secure Printing Solutions Look Like? A Step By Step Approach

Data protection isn’t optional, nor is it something that you can implement during one or two steps of a workflow while leaving the other steps alone. Instead, secure printing solutions safeguard customer and client files during every stage of the process, from file transfer to final delivery.

During file transfer, the first step of the process, all records are end-to-end encrypted, both in transit and at rest. Files are converted into unreadable text as soon as they leave the sender’s servers, and are only decrypted once they reach the recipient. Your records can’t even be read by the email platforms you send them with, which prevents employees of intermediaries from accessing files. It also reduces your vulnerability to hackers by preventing them from gaining sensitive information via a cyberattack on an intermediary.

Print providers take steps to ensure that only those who are authorized to access a particular file are able to do so. Multi-factor authentication requires anyone attempting to view a PDF, spreadsheet, or other type of record to validate their identity in at least two ways, such as by entering a password and by receiving a code on their phone. Role-based access control systems prevent employees from accessing files that are not associated with their job titles. Badge access control systems allow only employees with badges to enter a printing facility. These systems restrict the number of employees that view customer and client files to a small group of authorized and trained personnel.

How do you prove that customer information is being protected throughout the printing process? You can only do so if you know where each document is during all stages of the workflow. This is what chain-of-custody piece-level tracking accomplishes. 2D barcodes are placed onto each mailpiece on the production floor. These barcodes are scanned during every step of the printing process, recording who accesses which documents, and when.

Piece-level tracking continues once mailpieces leave the print facility. At this stage, USPS intelligent mail barcodes, or IMBs, are attached to each envelope. IMBs are scanned throughout transit at facilities that have the right capabilities. Printing vendors offer access to web portals that record each barcode scan, providing easily accessible data on the entire process.

Mailpiece tracking, both in and outside of the production facility, documents times that mailpieces are handled. This lets you demonstrate during an audit that the print processes you use keep client information safe.

Designing Secure Printing Processes

When outsource printing providers design workflows, they do so with data security in mind.

External audits and risk assessments are undertaken so that any issues are identified and quickly corrected. A SOC 2 Type II audit indicates that a firm meets the gold standard for data security. HIPAA compliance is also verified via a third-party audit.

Data redundancy is achieved when client files are stored in multiple data centers. This way, if one production facility is impacted by a natural disaster or another issue, the process can continue and workflows can still be audited.

Company-wide trainings teach employees how to handle sensitive information in ways that keep information secure and that comply with regulations.

These steps keep client files protected at every stage.

Cybersecurity In Printing

Printing firms must take cybersecurity concerns into account. They do so by implementing a series of protocols that prevent data breaches and that immediately alert teams if any threats do arise.

Penetration testing is when security professionals identify weak points in a system by attempting to gain access to it using the same methods that hackers would use. If vulnerabilities exist in a firm’s cybersecurity protocols, they are found during penetration testing and are quickly corrected.

SIEM, which stands for Security Information and Event Management, refers to technologies that analyze all of an organization’s computer activity at a scale impossible to do manually, quickly identifying any potential threats.

Print vendors maintain incident response teams that address any abnormalities the moment they arise.

Company-wide security trainings encompass cybersecurity concerns such as phishing attacks and safe password design.

These controls are implemented by printing providers to keep client information protected.

The Significance Of SOC 2 Type II Auditing And HIPAA Auditing

This blog has detailed the procedures that organizations implement to safeguard client data. But how can you verify that a print vendor enacts secure printing solutions in practice?

A SOC 2 Type II audit is the best external indicator of data security that an organization can have. The SOC 2 framework was created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, and it verifies that a vendor handles client records safely. SOC 2 Type I audits do exist, but these record whether controls are effectively implemented at just one point in time. SOC 2 Type II, on the other hand, has been called the gold standard of data security auditing, and for good reason. SOC 2 Type II audits cover a provider’s security protocols more thoroughly, confirming that they function as intended over long periods, usually 3-12 months.

Working with an outsource printing provider involves putting sensitive customer files in their hands for extended durations of time, and SOC 2 Type II audits confirm that a vendor is capable of properly managing that data for the length of the partnership.

Audits take on particular importance for organizations in the healthcare industry. Covered entities work only with business associates that can meet HIPAA compliance standards. The completion of a third-party HIPAA audit is a sign that a print partner is capable of meeting these requirements, allowing healthcare organizations to proceed in the relationship with confidence.

How Secure Printing Solutions Work In Practice: D4 Solutions

Across our 45 years of print experience, D4 Solutions has developed a vast expertise in secure printing, data processing, and mailing. To provide an example of how the protocols discussed in this blog post are executed by a real organization in practice, here’s how we implement security controls on our production floor:

Step 1: File Intake

At the beginning of the process, client files are sent to D4 Solutions and are end-to-end encrypted, both in transit and at rest.

Putting the customer first is integral to D4’s workflows. One of the ways that we put the customer first is via the in-depth involvement of our project management team, which keeps operations streamlined and secure. Starting at the earliest stages of a partnership, a dedicated project manager is assigned to each client. Project managers meet with each partner as long as they need and as often as they need, whether those meetings are weekly, monthly, quarterly, or at any other frequency. Our team asks the right questions up front, gaining all the information we need to ensure that processes runs smoothly and that sensitive records are protected exactly how clients need them to be.

Step 2: Data Prep And Cleanup

Data is standardized, sorted, and formatted at this stage, preventing production errors. Files are handled by team members that have been trained on proper security protocols, including HIPAA guidelines if required by the project. Employees complete multi-factor authentication before interacting with client files.

Step 3: Document Composition

Document composition is the stage in which raw data is merged into templates to create finished documents. This is done in accordance with an organization’s business rules, which are guidelines that govern what content is shown and to whom. For example, a tax statement might be formatted differently based on the state a resident lives in, or an EOB might be constructed differently depending on plan type.

D4 team members use composition software to pull information from data sets, apply business rules to determine what information should appear on which documents, and then create finished files. This process is done automatically and in a scalable way, meaning that we can handle print runs ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of documents at a time.

All customer data and PDFs are archived for long-term secure storage according to retention requirements, allowing you to prove in an audit that your data is being properly protected.

Step 4: Quality Assurance And Proofing

After composition, automated and human checks catch issues before any documents are printed.

During this stage, D4 conducts thorough test runs. Our clients then review those documents and confirm that everything looks good before going to print. This step in the process, along with the dedication of our project management team, contribute to D4’s 99.99% operational accuracy rate in terms of quality and on-time delivery.

Step 5: Printing And Finishing

High-speed print runs are completed using either inkjet or toner printers, depending on client needs. Completed documents are then cut, folded, and inserted. 2D/QR codes are placed on every mailpiece, allowing for in-factory tracking and the formation of chain-of-custody audit trails. Jobs cannot be closed out until all 2D barcodes are accounted for.

Our automated selective inserting machines make print runs both more efficient and more secure. They allow for insertion of certain documents, such as state-specific regulatory disclosures and account-specific reminders, into some mailpieces, but not others. Automating the process saves time. It also reduces the likelihood of compliance violations by preventing documents with sensitive information from being placed in the wrong envelopes and delivered to the wrong customers.

Step 6: Mail Prep And Entry

At this stage, mail is sorted in ways that allow it to qualify for USPS discounts. Each mailpiece is then affixed with the USPS’s intelligent mail barcode, or IMB, for tracking purposes, before being entered into the mailstream.

Step 7: Tracking And Reporting

A mailpiece’s IMB is scanned throughout transit at USPS facilities that have the right capabilities. We make the data from these scans available on personalized web portals for our clients. Our web portals can be accessed 24/7, so that, whenever clients need to, they can prove that their document printing solutions are secure. We develop customized reporting for our clients, capturing any data point or business rule that they request to fit their exact project and security needs.

Throughout The Process

D4’s printing facility has badge-controlled access, and all employees receive regular security training. We analyze our cybersecurity protocols via risk assessments, SIEM technology, and penetration testing, and we have an incident response team ready to correct any issues that arise.

We deliver real-time reporting via email or sFTP throughout each phase of the production process, allowing you to confirm that your workflows are operating securely.

We have two production facilities and an external data center, providing redundancy.

Our workflows have been HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II audited, demonstrating our commitment to secure handling of client information.

Are you looking for a print vendor who can handle, print, and mail sensitive customer documents safely? D4 Solutions offers secure printing solutions for a wide variety of industries, document types, and shipment sizes. Reach out now to see how we can help.

Frequently Asked Questions: Secure Printing Solutions

1. What is secure printing and why does it matter?

Secure printing refers to processes and technologies that protect sensitive documents from unauthorized access during every stage, from data intake, through production, to delivery. It matters because unprotected documents can expose private information, lead to data breaches, and put your organization at risk of compliance violations.

2. How is secure printing carried out?

Print and mail providers safeguard data via access control protocols, end-to-end encryption of files in transit and at rest, mailpiece tracking, and stringent cybersecurity measures.

3. What compliance standards should I look for in a secure printing solutions provider?

Look for a print and mail partner that is HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II audited. This indicates that they have met the gold standard for data security.

4. Who should I partner with if I need printing solutions that keep my client data protected?

D4 Solutions is a HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II audited print and mail vendor. We have 45 years of print and mail experience across industries, and our workflows have a 99.99% operational accuracy rate in terms of quality and on-time delivery. We protect your data and get your documents where they need to be, on time, every time.

Reach out now to see how we can optimize your print and mail workflows.