Securely sending files

[Blueberry]

I was wondering if anyone sent/shared files with their accountant/broker/lawyer and how?
I seem to be the odd one out in my social group who worries about this.

I've been looking online for various methods, but was looking for an easy and commonly used method and generally wondering if others worry about this?
Ta

 

[D.T.]

Yeah, here's the steps

Go to the kitchen
Grab alfoil from pantry
Enrol in Origami course at Tafe
Arrange aforementioned alfoil into a nice hat
Log into computer
Open Outlook
Attach files to an email addressed to 3rd party
Press send

Perhaps put a password on spreadsheets or zip files?

 

[LoneWolf]

Dropbox it to intended recipient

 

[Terry_w]

And just becareful what you send from where. Many of clients send personal stuff from their work account and this means the employer will have access to all their personal details!! Even after they leave work.

 

[o0o]

PGP is probably the safest method, you can download one from here:
http://www.pgpi.org/

Read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy

PGP encryption uses a serial combination of hashing, data compression, symmetric-key cryptography, and finally public-key cryptography; each step uses one of several supported algorithms. Each public key is bound to a user name and/or an e-mail address.

 

[geoffw]

There are facilities like https://www.hightail.com/ (formerly yousendit) which enable you to upload files up to 50MB, and have a link emailed to the recipient.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hightail

 

[D_One]

I normally upload the files to dropbox and send the link.

 

[geoffw]

I normally upload the files to dropbox and send the link.

I have four devices connected to Dropbox. I wouldn't like to use this with large files, as I wouldn't like to store them on all those devices. It would use a lot of space on small devices, and would decrease security.

 

[D.T.]

Dropbox it to intended recipient

Dropbox is awful.

And just becareful what you send from where. Many of clients send personal stuff from their work account and this means the employer will have access to all their personal details!! Even after they leave work.

Yep. Never send anything through your work account that isnt work related. A company whose IT I managed had an employee who was sending off information to a competitor. Even though he had left a year prior, and had deleted the emails, and deleted them from his deleted folder and his laptop had been disposed of, we were still able to get access to the emails and provide them as evidence.

 

[o0o]

I have four devices connected to Dropbox. I wouldn't like to use this with large files, as I wouldn't like to store them on all those devices. It would use a lot of space on small devices, and would decrease security.

I don't think files take up any storage space on your device unless you export them to your memory card.

 

[geoffw]

I don't think files take up any storage space on your device unless you export them to your memory card.

You're right actually- they don't get transferred onto your device until you open them- but then they stay put.

I have pdf books on Dropbox which I can open at home on my iPad or Nexus wifi only devices- but once I've opened them at home they are available at any time. So presumably at that stage they are stored on my device.

 

[DavidMc]

I use a Dropbox shared folder with my accountant. You can use selective sync so those folders don't get sync'd to my iPhone etc, however it has come in handy before to pull up an old water bill on my phone.

Reasonable balance of security/convenience, only the NSA can read it.

The next step up would be to run my own private Dropbox like service (which I do have, but have not fully coverted over)... this is on my Synology NAS.