Two Ways To Up The Security of Your Files Before Transferring or Sharing

When you’ve got really sensitive materials, like tax documents, that you need to transfer, simple human error or malicious identity thieves can do a ton of damage. Have you ever emailed a sensitive file to the wrong person, or worried about who was accessing your Dropbox files from the other end of the cloud? Financial documents, personal records, passwords, photos, and credit card numbers could all use an extra coat of security on their trip from your computer to someone else’s.

We’ve enumerated the reasons why Dropbox is not secure in the past. Let’s take a look at a few solutions:

Encryption and Decryption

Using a third party program like 7-Zip or WinRAR to encrypt your files before you send them is a free and easy fix that requires just a little extra work and planning. You simply choose a password and encrypt the file, then send the .zip or .rar archive. On the other end, anyone wanting access to your secure files will need a password. You give the password to your chosen receiver somehow. Depending on how secure you want to be about it, you can share the password by email, by phone or in person.

It’s a good secondary level of security to keep your sensitive documents safe even in the event of a Dropbox breach. Two points of failure.

DigitalQuick

Another solution is a third party program called DigitalQuick. It just launched, and is offered as a free download. DigitalQuick provides the unique ability for users to see what their friends and colleagues have done with their shared files and when. Unlike other services, DigitalQuick does not require passwords or the need to remember encryption keys; instead, data is safeguarded by simply clicking and setting permissions - leaving nothing to remember or worry about.

Everyone has likely had the experience of accidentally emailing a résumé, report or photos to the wrong person, and then making an unsuccessful attempt to recall the email. With DigitalQuick, even if recipients have the file or even the permissions to open it, those recipients can always be removed as a shared member or have their permissions changed so that they are ultimately unable to access that file.

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Let us know in the comments how you ensure your sensitive files transfer securely!