Here at ShareFile, we know the importance of security, which is why we take the proper measures to protect our users. Our customers, and their customers and colleagues, trust us with sensitive information on a daily basis. We have layers of security in place to ensure confidentiality when transferring and storing business documents.
Layer 1: As a ShareFile user, the first layer of security is in regard to accessing your account. Each user of the system has a unique login and password. All user passwords are hashed in the ShareFile database, meaning that not even the ShareFile support personnel have the ability to view or in any way determine a user’s password. To access your sensitive documents, you are prompted to sign into your account with your email and password. This serves to protect your information from unauthorized users.
Layer 2: The second layer of security is default privacy settings. By default, your files are only accessible if you choose to share them with others. When ShareFile users create folders in the system, only the specified users that are designated by owner of the folder are able to access the contents of those folders. Users who do not have access to the folder will not even see the folder in their view of the system. So, you can rest assured knowing that your information is kept confidential.
Last night, our ShareFile Development team pushed a new update live allowing for multi-level administration within ShareFile accounts. Multi-level administration is a concept and feature set that is built for companies that want to delegate and/or separate administrative function for employee users. The previous setting of “Admin” included a tremendous amount of functionality that was not always desirable for all administrative type users. For example, some users may only need to access billing while others should only be able to see the information but not edit preferences.
When creating new employees or editing current employees, you will be given a list of administrative options that can be enabled or disabled for a particular user. This page can be seen below:
More information about these permissions and how to update administrative options for your employees can be found through our Knowledge Base here.
If there are any questions or issues, please contact your Account Manager or our Support staff.
A few weeks ago we blogged about the new proposed cyber security legislation by President Obama. The proposal highlights voluntary assistance and information sharing framework between government and industry. Sounds like a good idea considering the recent attacks on major corporations like Sony’s Playstation, PBS, and most recently, banking giant Citibank. According to a recent article posted by International Business Times, Citibank confirmed today that credit card data of 200,000 of its North American customers have been hacked.
However, lawmakers aren’t so certain about the new proposed legislation, arguing that it would give the government unprecedented access to private data. Critics say that the promotion of shared information about cyber-attacks with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would violate laws limiting government access to private data. According to an article in Network World, the proposal will take away protection found in laws such as the Wiretap Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, in favor of the proposed broad information sharing.
How often do you see the email error on an important document, indicating the file you are trying to attach is too large? Or what your email box is too full and you must delete items before you can send?
Annoying, right? According to a recent article in Network World, this happens often with businesses. Unfortunately, some businesses have no idea that there are solutions out there to prevent this type of frustration. Businesses usually try to work around this inconvenience by breaking up files into multiple, smaller files. Another common method of file transfer is putting the needed file on a thumb drive and taking it or sending to the intended recipient. Or those that are brave may even try setting up their own FTP server, which may or may not be secure.
Following recent attacks on major corporations, including the breach of Sony’s PlayStation system, the Obama administration has submitted a proposal to Congress for new cybersecurity legislation for companies. The announcement of this proposal highlights a renewed focus for the White House on computer and data security as a matter of national and financial stability, although there are still many questions as to how any laws regarding corporate network security could be written or implemented.
As federal and state laws continue to get stricter about maintaining the security of clients’ information, accountants are in search of an encrypted method of file transfer, especially for tax season. According to an article in the Journal of Accountancy, “client portals offer an alternative to email for communicating and collaborating with clients.” A client portal can be a significant time saver by eliminating the process of searching for old copies of tax returns when a client calls looking for one.
ShareFile makes tax season easy for accountants. With unlimited client users, an accountant can upload clients’ tax returns, and any other information to the portal. Clients can then use their personal log-in to retrieve the information. Files are transmitted with 128-bit SSL encryption and ShareFile maintains compliance with state and federal security regulations. ShareFile is equipped with granular folder-level permissions so that clients only see folders where specific access is granted.
Barbara Wohlegmuth , a CPA with Tax Trailer, says she survived this past tax season with ShareFile.
“I can’t tell you how much using ShareFile made the season go more smoothly. I needed a secure way for clients to transmit information to me, and vice versa, and ShareFile was the perfect solution. My clients uploaded their tax information to their ShareFile folders. I then downloaded the information, prepared their tax returns, and then uploaded completed returns to their folders for them to access. I set up the client folders to notify me when clients uploaded new information for me, and to notify them when I had uploaded their tax returns. This worked great and was a tremendous time-saver for me. Best of all, ShareFile is so easy to use–there’s really no learning curve–and we all loved it. I will definitely continue using ShareFile.”
Today has been declared World Back-Up Day to serve as a reminder to back up your files and to bring awareness to the importance of file storage. The concept is interesting- back up your files today, “Don’t be an April Fool.” Obviously, you should think more often about backing up and storing your important data but take this reminder to analyze how you are currently backing up your data.
With traditional storage methods, users worry about running out of space on flash drives and CDs or worry about keeping up with a physical device. However, with ShareFile you can upload files directly to your account, which provides an easy and secure online storage solution, customized for almost any small to medium sized business. All data is transmitted and stored with 128-bit SSL encryption, stored in a SAS 70 audited data center, and is audited regularly by a third-party. Users can store files on their account for a specified period of time and can access this information from virtually anywhere, even on-the-go through ShareFile’s mobile app for Android.
We pride ourselves on our customer service and are always looking to improve our service for customers all over the world. This past month, ShareFile made some changes and upgrades to our data centers by opening a new data center in Japan and updating our VDR product to comply with EU cyber-security laws that have enhanced our international presence and made it easier for our customers to manage their ShareFile accounts.
We are proud to announce that we have opened up a new data center located in Tokyo, Japan. This brings the total number of data centers that service our customers to five. We now have two centers in the United States, one in the European Union and two in the Asian region. This new data center should significantly improve upload and download speeds for this region, and we are very excited about this server announcement and what it means to our Asian customers.
