Document logistics provider, Rhenus Data Office, and LEGIC Identsystems have collaborated to create a digital security-enabled container to facilitate secure document disposal.

Rhenus provides customers with secure disposal containers and until now, these were secured by mechanical locks.

This involved all the inherent drawbacks of mechanical access control systems such as physical key handling, key loss management, manual access logs, etc.

Additionally, mechanical locks meant that Rhenus had to keep large, customer-specific container inventories with specific locks in stock.

This made their logistical processes more complex, expensive and less flexible.

Enter digital container access control

To modernize their secure containers, Rhenus teamed up with LEGIC and Lehmann Locks to design a secure digital solution based on radio frequency identification (RFID) contactless access control and LEGIC’s end-to-end IoT Security Platform.

Existing containers were retrofitted with the “Rhenus e-lock” containing a LEGIC SM-6300 Security Module.

Based on the LEGIC Security Platform, the companies say that the encrypted wireless communications from container to backend system facilitates smartcard management, auditability and process integrity both on and offline, enabling secure document disposal.

“While LEGIC’s security technology is impressive and delivered all that was promised, the key factor was their support and consulting and the assistance provided by their partners at Lehmann Locks who could design and install the envisioned solution according to our needs,” said Michael Wiegmann, Managing Director Rhenus Data Office GmbH.

Secure document disposal

According to the companies, the benefits of the new secure document disposal system include:

• Elimination of physical keys which are easily lost or copied and require cumbersome manual storage and handling
• Authorization management is easy. RFID smartcards can be easily assigned, configured, activated and de-activated
• Automated logging of container openings enables reliable auditing and quality control as human error is eliminated
• Simplified logistics: Customer-specific containers are replaced by generic containers which can be customized as needed and on-location. Existing RFID smartcards continue to work with new containers as they are replaced
• High security as locks, data storage and communications implement the highest commercially available encryption AES-128 combined with Secure Element technology. RF communications cannot be decoded, key data stored in the lock is inaccessible and RFID smartcards cannot be copied
• Offline operation: containers function with no network connection needed
• New features are easily implemented via software such as creation of authorization hierarchies adapted to a company’s structure as well as possible future upgrades to mobile access
• LEGIC’s extensive off-the-shelf expertise and partner network resulted in a secure document disposal solution that was quickly defined, created and delivered