Distributing sensitive information beyond enterprise boundaries can result in regulatory violations at worst, and public relations problems at best. Both Microsoft Office documents and PDF documents frequently contain sensitive information which users are unaware is embedded in the file.

In addition to identifying and removing sensitive metadata from documents, companies must learn to properly redact information from documents or face equally significant content quality control issues.

Dirty Documents: Cases in Point

Recent and noteworthy case studies of improper content cleansing events include:

• PDFs of classified CIA documents, containing the names of foreign agents, were published by the New York Times in 2000. The paper informed readers that this information had been redacted from the documents due to the risk of endangering the families of the agents. Times personnel improperly redacted the information...