Which PDF Security Software Would You Trust?
If you are thinking about PDF protection software then you will most likely have documents that you want to protect. Those documents might be confidential accounting details for the eyes of your associates only, or they might be chemical structures and recipes for your products which likewise are for the eyes of key partners only, or they may be for pay-as-you-learn correspondence courses that are similarly for the eyes of those with your explicit permission only.
Either way your choice of PDF security software is critical and will be complicated by trying to please everyone. For example, some of your partners have mobile devices or the boss himself insists on being able to access the data while out of the office from his mobile device. So you may be considering trying to support all types of devices including mobile phones.
Before you decide which software to use to protect your PDF, let's consider some other important factors. Firstly, there are things that can be done about restricting access to a document. For example, the first one to usually come to mind is password protection, but passwords can be as easily shared with the file itself. So let's look at DRM where user identification can be validated and access rights given to only those with your explicit permissions. Such identification can use a unique Computer ID or MAC address. However MAC address changes with type of Internet connection whether it be by Modem, LAN, Wi-Fi, etc. That is why CopySafe PDF uses Computer ID, and by using a call-to-home validation each time the document is opened, the author has total control over all aspects with immediate effect, even on PDF already saved to a user's computer. For example if a staff member leaves the company, his access to privileged documents can be stopped immediately.
Next is, while the document is open and its contents are on display, do you need to protect it from copy and print? If printing is allowed then the user can print an unlimited number of copies and distribute to anyone. Or printing can be limited to a number of copies. Yes, that is possible with CopySafe PDF.
What about preventing PrintScreen and screenshots which can then be distributed to others? Do you realize that most "copy protection" techniques are merely a superficial annoyance to a user and do not prevent screenshots created by capture software. There is also some PDF security software faking that by disabling known capture programs which can fool a lot of people, so when evaluating them, try a few different capture applications. However CopySafe PDF is safe from them all and it is not by using tricks.
What about PDF expiration? Would you like to set an expiry day after which the PDF cannot be opened? Do you realize that most PDF expiration techniques can be foiled by changing the computer's date? I'll bet that most PDF protection solution providers do not disclose that big hole. Well CopySafe PDF cannot be exploited because it uses an independent time server for expiration checks.
In fact, with CopySafe PDF you have all sorts of different options for expiration such setting an expiry date based on hours or days since the user first opens the PDF. You will probably be doubting that and asking how that can be done? Well that is what most in the copy protection industry does... is wonder how CopySafe features are so more advanced than their own, then they study them and try to imitate them. Then they offer to protect your intellectual property with something that they have knocked off.
It is ArtistScope research and development that has created most of what is used to copy protect all types of media on the Internet. Image encryption, prevention of PrintScreen and screen capture software for all media, using a transparent overlay, drag-n-drop prevention, using Computer ID for DRM, server validation of software licenses, call-to-home validation for total control DRM, copy protected webmail, copy protect plugins for WordPress, Drupal, Moodle and Joomla, DRM and copy protection for video. None of the features found in CopySafe solutions were developed by any other copy protect provider, mainly because it was William Kent, the founder of ArtistScope who invented "copy protection" in the first place, who has had the motivation and creativity to develop such sophisticated techniques to stop the theft of intellectual property and data from those who do create.
How many new copy protect startups have appeared, inundated the web with their advertising to make a big splash with calls for stock market investment, only to disappear as soon as their public funding ran out? The answer to that is "all of them" which has given DRM and copy protection a bad name by providing weak and insecure solutions easily targeted by wanna-be whistle blowers and whining bloggers.
But 20 years on and what does ArtistScope have to offer for "copy protection"? Well the answer to that one is "everything". CopySafe solutions provide the most secure copy protection from all avenues of copy with the option of using the most secure DRM to prevent sharing and unauthorized distribution. CopySafe protection software caters for all media and their
PDF protection software is the only secure solution that can be displayed online and viewed in a web browser.
So to which copy protection solution will you trust your livelihood?
Author: Joy Flemming
Date: 2nd October 2019
Return to DRM and Copy Protection
Comments
No comments
