Showcasing our encryption service

We have recently added a free service that lets you send an attachment of up to 1MB in size to any mailbox as an encrypted file.

We wanted a way that let people see what our service offers, and what better way than providing a secure means to transfer sensitive documents over that medium we all love, email?

This is basically how it works:

Your file is sent to our servers over SSL, so it's transferred from your computer to our server over a perfectly secure transmission channel.

Then, we randomly generate a 256-bit key, and use it to encrypt your data.

We never see your data, because it's encrypted as it's received, that is, while it's in memory. We don't save any of your data to disk.

You will receive two emails, one with the encrypted attachment, and another with a link to a page that will let you decrypt the attachment.

When you follow the link to decrypt, you will be presented with a form that allows you to upload the attachment, and will return the file to you decrypted. Again, we only access the file 'in memory', and never save it to disk.

This is a great way to send a private file to a colleague or friend, or store a file securely in your Inbox until you need to access it again.

Encrypting your Web Docs in Box.net

When I first began thinking about encryption for the cloud, I was using Google Docs to develop some ideas. The convenience and productivity of having a document that is accessible from any connected location is undeniable. However, the ideas in development were proprietary, and I began to wish that Google Docs had a Save + Encrypt button.

Box.net continues to add great value to their service. A recent addition is the ability, like Google Docs, to edit simple documents in your browser and store them directly to your Box.net account. Log on from anywhere, and start editing. It's great.



We provide an add-on service for Box.net that allows you to select any file in your Box, and with just a click, encrypt or decrypt it.

As well as a service provider and developer, I am also a user of Box.net, and, of course, our encryption service add-on. With Box.net's addition of the Web Doc, my desire for a work flow that provides easy 'anywhere' editing coupled with deep privacy, is now fulfilled. I simply:

- log on to Box.net,
- click to decrypt the Web Doc I'm working on,
- make some changes,
- save,
- and click to encrypt.

I find Web Docs + encryption incredibly helpful for storing accounts and passwords online where I can access them whenever I need them. If you're like me and have a lot of web accounts, you've got to remember a host of account logins and passwords, some of which are impossible to keep identical. A Web Doc lets me view my account information without having to download, and encryption gives me the assurance that the data is completely confidential.

Box.net continues to improve and add features to their service, and we look forward to finding new and interesting ways to enhance and deepen your privacy in the cloud.