Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) adds an extra layer of security to sensitive data. This article describes how you can use its capabilities to keep customer information safe. Increasingly, insider threats—whether intentional or not—are what managers need to worry about when it comes to information security. To help in this effort, Windows Rights Management Services protects files and documents from unauthorized eyes both within and outside the corporate network. RMS technology, available for download and included in Windows Vista, allows you to embed security rules in specific documents and files to define who may use the information, how, and for how long. As a result, RMS is a useful tool to manage and protect customer data. RMS controls who is allowed to read, modify, print, forward, save, or take other actions with the data, regardless of whether users access it on the company network or over the Internet. Customer service managers can protect transaction records so that only they can change them and only authorized recipients can read them. Sales representatives can place reports on a shared server in "do not print" form or provide confidential customer information in "do not forward" e-mail messages. RMS policies are embedded in the document itself to guard the information it contains for as long as it exists. Below are just a few ways you can use RMS to safeguard customer data. Streamline common processes with RMS templatesRMS helps you create and distribute sensitive documents faster and more conveniently. Simply create document templates that include applicable RMS rules. When a file automatically includes the appropriate security limits, employees need not remember or understand how to protect the data. They can be confident that it will remain in the right hands. For example, you might create a form for customer complaints with three policies: only the sales department may read the content; only the account executive and marketing manager may forward it; and no one can copy, paste, or edit it. This would limit potentially sensitive information to employees authorized to receive and act on it. Eliminate outdated informationAnother feature of RMS is the ability to "lock" documents based on time requirements, rendering them unreadable after a certain date. This provides an easy way to control time-sensitive content, such as promotions or online catalog copy, and ensure that customers receive only receive the most up-to-date communication from your company. Enhance workflow and improve customer serviceRMS can create an audit trail that tracks who has accessed specific content, no matter where it goes. Of course, an audit trail lets your company prove that only authorized users have access to sensitive customer data, be it health care records or credit card numbers. It can also help you spot areas in which to improve customer service. For example, an audit trail shows who has accessed a document, but it also suggests who has not seen it. That gives your managers instant information about whether employees who need a certain file have received it, and if so, whether they have handled it promptly. The Windows Vista operating system includes the latest version of the RMS client. If you are using an earlier version of Microsoft Windows, you can download an RMS client at Microsoft.com.
 | Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer in San Francisco who specializes in business and technology. She contributes regularly to the Microsoft Midsize Business Center. |
| 
