Cocoon Data: Securing Internet communication

Data: “What makes us very unique and virtually impregnable, is that the encryption keys, the access control rules and the identity credentials for opening a Secure Envelope are separated from the encrypted Secure Envelope. This means that a Secure Envelope is highly protected from malicious attack.”

It should be added that the Secure Objects encryption technology used by Secure Envelopes is of AES (advanced encryption technology) military grade. Its strong security architecture is also demonstrated by the fact that it is in the process of being accredited under the internationally regarded standard, Common Criteria (EAL4+ — the highest security level for software). According to Collet: “…we are the only one of our kind with this certification. He adds: No Secure Envelopes have been compromised to date. We have had one of Australia’s  more secret Government bodies trying to break into our software and they gave up entirely after 2 months.”

The use of other security measures does not hinder Secure Envelopes. Collet explains: “The system can support any type of identity credential for creating and opening secure files. This means that an organization can leverage one, two or multi-factor authentication credentials already in place such as tokens or biometrics and couple this with Secure Envelopes or Secure Documents for Word.”

How does Secure Envelopes work?
Before the file is attached to an e-mail, it is encrypted, server side and within that encryption is an authority specifying who is allowed to open the file. Telford explains: “The recipient needs to have our reader software installed - an application, a little exe file of about 1.5 MB. The recipient must have an Internet connection so that when they click on the encrypted attachment it first of all goes to our server and says, “what’s this envelope?’ and if it is a valid envelope, it sends a challenge to the recipient to prove who he says he is. If that test is passed - maybe a use-once pass code or a password - it will pass the encryption key from our server, decrypt the file in the background and then the receiver can drag the files out of the envelope.” This is a several second process.

Secure Envelopes encrypt any type of electronic attachment and allows the creator to establish its own rules governing the use and life of the document — rules that the creator can change anytime — even post distribution. The creator can, for example, send a file that can be read only once; he can revoke access to individual files in an envelope with multiple attachments, and for envelopes sent to multiple persons, access can later be denied to an individual if that person, for example, leaves the organization. The fact that such documents are beyond the creator’s company domain and network does not hinder the ability to revoke and control access.

According to Cocoon Data, Secure Envelopes protects against: eavesdropping; invasion of privacy; attachment modification; false attachments; unauthorized message relay, and repudiation (when the sender denies that they sent the attachment and/or the receiver denies they received the attachment).

If this is the case, Cocoon Data’s Secure Envelopes will indeed go a long way to meeting today’s privacy and communication needs. Major players in the IT and IT security industry seem to think highly of Secure Envelopes. The industry giants of Thales, Wipro, and Sun Microsystems have decided to partner with Cocoon Data in accessing the market.

Collet understands the attraction: “…Secure Objects is a revolutionary piece of software in regards to the depth of security and the unique way of separating, managing and retrieving individual electronic attachments. The data owner has complete control of the data and it is at the same time extremely simple to use.” Telford sums up: “When using Secure Envelopes, even if the laptop or CD with your sensitive information is lost or stolen, it doesn’t matter since it is in a package that no one else can open.”