Launching Virtual Data Rooms (VDR) for Secure Storage, Distribution and Tracking of Sensitive Documents

Posted by Ankur Panchbudhe on November 13 2014

Today, we are announcing the launch of Virtual Data Rooms (VDR) with unprecedented security & control and consumer-like end-user experience. A virtual data room (VDR) is an online document repository used to store and distribute documents. The VDR is a cost-efficient, flexible and secure Internet-age avatar of traditional physical data room used in due-diligence of sensitive transactions like M&A, loan syndication and PE/VC investments.

As we grew the footprint of our enterprise file sharing, anywhere access and mobile collaboration in Banking, Insurance and Financial Services (BFSI), we saw increased demand for VDR. Our BFSI customers choose us for end-to-end security and control, and there has been a consistent demand from them to extend our offering to include VDR - one of the prominent use cases requiring strong security, privacy and compliance. Through its VDR offering, Vaultize provides a secure and convenient way to store, share and track the movement of sensitive documents and keep everything under control without having to resort to traditional ways of sharing documents through email and FTP, which are insecure, hard-to-manage and cumbersome to use.

Our Mobile Content Management (MCM) capabilities extend the VDR to include mobile access, annotation of PDF documents and editing of Microsoft Office documents within a secure data container keeping sensitive data completely secured and under control. Additionally, it also includes plethora of features like desktop sync, Outlook plugin, online document viewer, digital watermarking, Geo fencing and Geo tracking - improving the end-user experience as well as IT control and visibility.

Earlier limited to BFSI and legal domains, need for VDR is now going beyond the M&A use case and gaining importance in pharma, biotech, healthcare, education, cleantech and media for sensitive document exchange, tracking and auditing.

Here are the highlights of our VDR:

Security and Control

Vaultize provides complete end-to-end security, ensures 100% control and mitigates data loss risks:

  • Secure Data Centers: Vaultize VDR is offered through a scalable cloud hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has data centers certified for SSAE 16 and ISO 27001. It is also available through our MSP partners’ data centers, as private cloud or as an on-premise deployment
  • End-to-end Data Security: When used with desktop sync agents or mobile apps, Vaultize encrypts (AES 256-bit) the files on endpoints before transmitting over the wire to cloud. The decryption happens only on the recipients’ endpoints. This is in addition to SSL and OAuth protection. There is another level of encryption when the data is stored in cloud. Overall it ensures end-to-end security of documents that nobody else provides
  • Granular permissions: Permissions can be set to control view, download and upload at the level of individual users or groups
  • Password Protection and Expiry: Sharing can be controlled with password protection, automatic expiry, etc.
  • Access control: It ensures that documents can be accessed and downloaded only from pre-defined IP and geographical locations (IP and Geo fencing)
  • Digital Watermarking: With the built-in web-based online document viewer, you can add watermarks to discourage printing, screen capture or photo capture. The watermarking has options for embedding text, image or email of recipient
  • Mobile Content Management (MCM): If permitted, users can also use mobile apps to access and edit documents. MCM capabilities control the use of editor on mobile devices (like copy/paste, print, open in other app) and also provide ability to remotely wipe the data container. The built-in editor supports PDF annotation and Microsoft Office document editing
  • Digital Rights Management (DRM): The soon to be launched) integrated DRM feature will further enhance the data loss prevention capabilities such that the access, editing and sharing of documents can be controlled and tracked even after the files are downloaded to the devices that are beyond organization’s control
  • Virus Scanning and DLP integration: (soon to be launched) All files uploaded are scanned for viruses and malware, while all files being downloaded can be scanned through Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Efficiency

Vaultize is the most efficient platform for file access and sharing. It provides following benefits:

  • Easy to use: You can create data rooms in a few minutes. It is easy to setup, use and manage. All parties can simply access the documents through web-based accounts called “Vault”. The Vaults of individual users are kept in sync so that everybody stays updated with the latest documents. Plugins, desktop agents or mobile apps are not mandatory but may be used by proficient users to improve efficiency
  • Desktop Agents: Agents for Windows, Mac and Ubuntu for desktop sync allows individuals to keep the documents in Vault in sync with local folders. Any documents that are uploaded by others will automatically be saved to the local folders. Also, any documents added or modified in the folder are automatically shared with others
  • Mobile Apps: Apps are available for iOS and Android. Users can use them only if permitted by policy
  • Microsoft Outlook Plugin: Users can use this plugin for conversion of attachments to links so that the files are not transferred in their original form and access to attachments can be secure and managed
  • De-duplication: At-source de-duplication built into Vaultize platform, reduces the amount of data transferred over the network improving efficiency and productivity. Encryption and de-duplication together at source is our patent-pending technology

Audit Trail, Reporting and Alerts

Vaultize provides comprehensive audit trail that includes when and how a recipient accessed a file, from which IP address and so on. Additionally, reports can be auto generated at regular intervals to create a complete record of activity.

The official press release of our VDR launch is here.

Topics: Solutions, Product, Announcements

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