Protect PDF Files for Secure and Efficient Contract Management

Contracts are a treasury of sensitive information, capturing everything from confidentiality agreements and intellectual property to employee salaries and financial records of customers. If mishandled, this data may cause a lot of harm to all the parties involved, so contract management security should not be treated as something afterthought. Indeed, with over 353 million victims affected by data compromises in 2023 in the US alone, it has never been more important for companies to safeguard their sensitive information. So, we prepared a checklist of the best practices you can adopt to secure PDF contracts and keep your business protected. 

Karolina Dacheva the Head of Customer Success shared with us their position at Businessmap:

“In our daily operations at Businessmap, PDF protection holds a key position in ensuring seamless business transactions.

One primary method we employ is ‘Encryption’, where confidential documents are protected with a password. There’s also ‘Watermarking’, a subtly effective feature to avoid unauthorized copying or sharing”.

Password Protect PDF File

Password protection comes in handy when you are going to share PDFs via email or just want to prevent unauthorized tampering while keeping your valuable files in the workspace. Simple yet effective, passwords do not allow users to access PDF documents until they enter the required combination of symbols. Besides, you can also control how others interact with content by restricting file copying, editing, commenting, sharing, and printing.

How to protect PDF files with a password

Take advantage of proven online PDF makes and converters to safeguard your contracts with a password in a few simple clicks. These tools enjoy great popularity due to their extended functionality. For example, there is an option to convert PDF to Word and protect the document right away, which makes sense if you find the Doc/Docx format more convenient for contract management. The process also works the other way round, allowing you to create secure PDFs from any other file.  

The steps to password protect a contract online are super easy: 

1. Open a PDF maker and drop your file in the upload box.
2. Go to the Security tab and pick ‘Password Protect’.
3. Set a hard-to-guess password.
4. Adjust the encryption settings to enhance contract security and click ‘OK’ to save the changes.
5. Tap ‘Done’ and download your file.

There are some important points to keep in mind when protecting PDF contracts with passwords:

• ensure that your password is strong and long enough, with at least 8 characters and a combination of symbols, numbers, upper-, and lowercase letters;
• do not set a password which is easy to guess (your birthdate, company name, etc.);
• use different passwords for every PDF contract to mitigate the risk of large-scale data leakage in case one password is stolen or hacked.

Secure PDF Contracts with Watermarks

Digital watermark is a transparent mark embedded on every document page to safeguard your confidential contracts from being illegally copied by malicious users. Watermarks are non-removable, meaning that whenever someone decides to print out or share a screenshot of your file, the mark will go along with it, denoting your property rights. What’s more, they can be used to highlight a document’s status (For Internal Use, Confidential, etc.) or stage of processing (Review, Draft, or Approved). 

The Operations Director of UltimateKilimanjaro Michael Sawyer gave us his opinion about it:

“Ensure that you always add a watermark to both the original and copies. This might not be seen as crucial, but it is a great way to ensure that the document is valid and from your organization.

Password protection should accompany all contract documents. For one simple reason, this ensures only the intended recipient with a valid password can open the document”.

Watermarks traditionally come in the form of text or a company’s logo, while you can also customize it and insert some image or drawing. There is also an option to set a watermark only for file viewing, printing, or both. At the same time, you can choose different images/logos for each of the cases.

How to add watermarks to PDF contracts

1. Go to the online PDF editor of your choice (ensure that it supports watermarking).
2. Upload the needed file (or files).
3. Head to the toolbar and pick the ‘Add watermark’ option.
4. Create a watermark, customize its look, and locate it on the page as you see fit.
5. Tap ‘Done’, and the mark will be automatically added to each document page.

Sign PDF Documents with Electronic or Digital Signatures

It’s recommended to add signatures to PDFs to enhance contract security and ensure that the documents are trustworthy, authentic, and legally binding. Although signatures cannot prevent any modifications from being made to the file, they serve as a tamper-evident seal denoting that no one has changed the content after you added a signature. Otherwise, it would be invalidated. 

Noteworthy, there are two types of signatures you can use to protect PDF contracts – electronic and digital ones. E-signature is a form of legally binding wet ink signature designed for verifying PDFs, while digital signatures serve well for securing documents since they are created using cryptographic algorithms and comprise superior safety features. Even though both options may be used to protect PDF files, e-signatures still prove to be more common in contracts and business agreements.

How to protect PDF contracts with signatures

The best online tools for creating and editing PDFs often come with a set of advanced features, allowing you to sign contracts in a matter of minutes. It’s all simple:

1. Launch an online editor and pick the Sigh PDF tool.
2. Upload your contract file.
3. Create a custom signature by drawing, typing text, or dropping an image.
4. Position the signature wherever you see fit and adjust its size.
5. Hit ‘OK’ and save the file.

Final Thoughts

Whenever you want to add an extra layer of security to your contracts, online PDF tools will come in handy. Multi-functional and professional PDF makers reveal a whole bunch of opportunities for everyone willing to create high-quality, accurate, and secure business documents. In addition to instant conversion from PDF to Word and vice versa, these tools allow you to password-protect and sign contracts, as well as add custom watermarks ensuring the identity of your brand. Implement the necessary steps to protect your files and enjoy peace of mind realizing that your sensitive data is safe and secure!