Disaster Recovery Journal Winter 2025

signing patterns, or hidden code – that humans miss. n Recovery strategies. Build processes that can validate and restore trusted documents quickly after a breach or insider event. Rethinking Trust At the end of the day, this isn’t just about tech. It’s about trust – the foundation of every business relationship. Whether you’re finalizing a contract, approving a payment, or onboarding a new employee, you need more than a digital “promise.” You need proof. The next time that signed PDF arrives, pause before assuming it’s safe. Ask: how do I know this document will hold up if it’s tested – by a hacker, a regulator, or even someone inside my own walls? Because in today’s world, the gap between “signed” and “secure” can mean the difference between business as usual and business interruption. v

Why Disaster Recovery (DR) Belongs in the Conversation When most people think of disaster recovery (DR), they picture floods or server crashes. But document security failures can be just as disruptive. A forged approval or corrupted set of records can stall entire workflows, create regulatory nightmares, or force costly rework. That’s why DR isn’t just about restoring systems – it’s about restoring trust. If you can’t quickly verify which documents are valid and which have been compromised, your recovery plan has a massive blind spot. Strong digital signature verification, backed by AI, needs to be baked into business continuity planning. What Needs to Change “Signed” isn’t enough anymore. Organizations need: n Rigorously verified signatures. Go beyond the symbol; check authenticity and freshness. n Tamper-evident documents. Any change after signing should set off alerts. n AI-powered detection. AI can flag subtle anomalies — odd metadata, strange

Where Trust Breaks Down So why do signatures fail? Two common issues: 1. Surface-level verification . A signature may appear valid, but if the software isn’t checking if it’s current, authentic, or forged, it’s just a symbol. 2. Weak tamper protection . If someone These breakdowns aren’t rare. Many organizations learn the hard way – after a fraudulent invoice is paid, a contract dispute escalates, or an insider quietly swaps out details before a deal closes. Indeed, insiders are often the ones exploiting these gaps – not the big external scary threats many are spending all of their time worrying about. Much of the time, these people are more difficult to spot. You may not be aware of a disgruntled employee or contractor. And, when they succeed, the damage can run even deeper – i.e., leaked data, broken trust, or even halted operations. can alter a document after signing without setting off alarms, the entire system of trust collapses.

With more than 30 years of experience in product and partner marketing, DeeDee Kato leads Foxit’s global product marketing.

34 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | WINTER 2025