I just finished reading a book called Pandora’s Star. In the book an envelope is placed around a star system, presumably to keep someone or something inside. When the envelope is removed, humans discover that the beings inside (the Primes) are very hostile and want to destroy anyone and anything that is not their species. The humans want to coexist with these beings, but the Primes are single minded and want to destroy everything.
This reminds me of document and computer security and the constant fight we have trying to do business in a hostile environment. If I send a document to one of my colleagues inside my firewall, I am sure the envelope of security keeps the document safe. If I send it outside my firewall, I have opened a Pandora’s Box of problems. I have no control over where it goes and who opens it. If it’s something I want distributed far and wide, then this is a blessing. If it’s something confidential, it’s a curse. I can’t keep all documents inside the firewall or I could never do business. Better to put an encryption envelope around my document that I can control. This way it can go where it needs to go with some safety.
How do you protect your documents?