How to Sign PDFs Safely: A Security-First Guide for SMBs

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ report Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations found that organizations lost an average of $1.5 million per fraud case in the period January 2022 – September 2023. Median losses in fraud cases increased 24% compared to the 2022 Report to the Nations. The group estimates that organizations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year.  

Small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable to fraud as they have fewer resources to devote to advanced security systems. As cybercriminals grow increasingly clever about how to fraud documents and signatures, the threat to SMBs grows as well. SMBs cannot afford to lose 5% of their revenue in a year because of document fraud, which is where secure eSignature solutions come in. Nitro’s eSign tools in particular empower SMBs to safeguard their PDFs and data while seeing greater workflow efficiencies.   

Why now is the time to embrace secure PDF eSigning 

Fraudsters get more creative every year about how to forge signatures so they pass for authentic ones. SMBs face many challenges if they don’t have technology that allows them to securely sign PDFs. 

The paper problem 

Paper-based documents and signatures are notoriously easy to forge or alter. Paper documents can be tampered with through manual edits, lost, stolen, or delayed. Tracking revisions is difficult — making it even trickier to be sure paper documents are signed with authentic signatures.  

The digital problem 

Even if you have an electronic document management system, without a secure PDF eSigning tool, you are still relying on systems like email and non-encrypted data transfer to obtain signatures. Without encryption, digital documents can be intercepted and manipulated by hackers who can apply fake signatures. What’s more, basic signing tools may not meet compliance standards for industries or markets in which you do business.  

FinancesOnline found that businesses reduce 92% of scanning mistakes using eSignatures, experience an 83% productivity enhancement in obtaining approvals, and cut turnaround time by 80% with the use of eSign. Even if security isn’t your top priority, efficiency statistics like these are hard to ignore as major pros for eSigning PDFs.   

Why SMBs choose Nitro for security-first PDF eSigning 

Nitro blends vigilant security protocols and tools with ease-of-use, making it an ideal PDF eSign solution for SMBs.  

End-to-end encryption 

Nitro’s PDF eSign solution encrypts data both in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access and to demonstrate security and compliance throughout the signing process.  

Identity verification 

If your business runs any high-stakes transactions, then identity verification should be a top feature for your eSign solution. Nitro offers multiple identity verification options such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and biometrics to ensure the identities of all signers.  

Global legality adherence and compliance 

Part of any sound document security strategy is keeping signed PDFs aligned with global compliance laws. Different countries and regions like the European Union have different laws that apply to various types of eSignatures. Nitro ensures signed PDFs adhere to laws from multiple countries. Check out our legality guide to learn more.  

Tamper-proof technology 

Nitro enables digital fingerprints associated with eSignatures — alerting users if unauthorized changes are made. This tamper-proof tool assures you of document integrity. 

Multiple types of signatures 

Different methods of signing offer different levels of assurance of authenticity. Simple signatures prove general acceptance of the document by the signer and can be scanned images of signatures or other types of signing methods. Advanced signatures are uniquely linked to the signer and provide a higher level of security and tamper-sealing. Qualified signatures, which Nitro provides, are non-repudiated signatures backed by certificates and indicate the highest level of identity verification. Learn more about the different types of eSignatures and their regulatory requirements in our guide The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Signatures. 

Data center security 

Nitro partners with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services for cloud hosting. These tech giants are globally renowned for their innovative and rigorous security.  

Secure your SMB against fraud with Nitro 

Growth-minded SMBs are increasingly embracing secure eSigning tools for the peace of mind that their documents are safely shared and signed with all parties around the world. Check out Nitro’s trust center to learn more about the ways we keep signed documents secure and fraud-proof. Securely signing digital PDFs is easy and efficient in our intuitive solution designed for SMBs. If you’re curious about how signing PDFs works in Nitro, see our step-by-step instructions here. 

We offer a free 14-day trial so you can see if Nitro is right for your business without committing to any cost.