Updated User Interface and Signing Improvements

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Safe4 has made significant updates to its signing experience and the user interface to make it easier and faster for users to share and exchange information securely and with a full audit trail. Everything you do today works the same way; it’s faster, cleaner, and now works properly on mobile.

What’s New: Refreshed user interface, improved mobile support, signatures in documents and simpler watermarking.

Safe4 has provided secure document exchange for over 16 years. The system has deliberately followed a familiar folders and files approach to displaying the contents you want to share with your internal users, business partners and clients. Earlier this year we made some significant performance improvements and some minor cosmetic changes – including a new logo and colour scheme. This was always planned to be a first step of a much larger update.

We are now ready to release the next phase of updates to the system. This release is a much larger set of visual and working changes and we wanted to give you a preview of what is coming shortly once final testing is completed in the next week or so.

User interface changes

General changes

The appearance of the user interface has been updated across all our pages to a more modern style to give you a fluid and simple user experience.

New user interface for the display of vault contents.

Depending on your permissions you can now more easily access the Folders, File Index, Client Users and Messages relating to the vault using the tabs in the banner.

The display of folders on the left is faster, and the state of open/closed folders and the current folder is remembered between sessions so you re-enter a vault exactly where you left it. In addition if the folder hierarchy is too narrow, it is possible to easily make it wider by simply dragging on the border between the tree and files. The system will remember exactly where you left this as well.

Functions relating to individual files continue to be on a drop down menu at the right of the file row, visible only when over the row to reduce clutter on the screen and make it easier to ensure you click the right row. Commands to act on multiple files are only displayed once files are selected instead of getting a prompt telling you to select files first.

The ability to download multiple files from the vault is also improved, it can now handle larger numbers of files, and can also include folders, so it is now possible to download a folder and all of its children (and their children). This function has always been permission controlled, and permissions are fully respected at any depth of folders.

Home page

If you have access to multiple Providers, or multiple Vaults then the home page has been updated to show more information about each of the vaults on the screen. Clicking on a vault will show more statistics and details in a drawer on the right. To enter a vault you now simply click on the “Enter” button.

Example tile for entering a vault.

Messages

The messages screen has been improved and now can show messages that you have sent as well as those you have received. Messages about a specific vault are also now available directly in the vault page, by clicking on the Messages tab in the banner.

Mobile

Users are increasingly looking to work on mobile devices and we have also been working to improve the experience there as well, all of the screens now work reliably on mobile and follow familiar conventions for mobile applications.

Unlike the previous version almost the full functionality of Safe4 is available on a mobile interface, including all of the provider functionality, user management, permissions, folders, uploads and downloads.

Mobile user interface

Data Rooms and Watermarking

Safe4 is also a powerful tool for establishing secure Data Rooms. Safe4 already already let you watermark PDF files that have been viewed and downloaded.

Example of watermarked document

This example has two watermarks on the page – the diagonal text in the background, and the footer containing the viewer’s name and the date the file was viewed.

We have simplified the configuration of the watermarking options – which can be text or images. Text can include the date and time, user details of the person viewing or downloading the file. This helps ensure that information is clearly marked when it is downloaded and improves the security position for the most sensitive of transactions.

Configuration dialog for watermarking.

The above example shows the configuration of the “For internal use only” text on the background of the page.

In addition to watermarking it is also possible to password protect files that are downloaded for extra security, and to control what can be done with the files once downloaded, for example to disable printing, or copying of content out of the documents.

Watermarking is applied on individual folders and different folders can have one or more watermarking options applied giving you very fine control that is centrally managed and is easy to configure.

Watermarking is applied to files however you access them, using the Web UI, on mobile, over WebDAV or using the multiple file download feature so you can be assured that your content is protected.

Signing improvements

Signatures can now be placed directly within the document, not just on an appended page – one of your most-requested features.

Safe4 has supported digital signatures for many years. The signing system is very powerful and gives you the ability to invite one or more people to sign one or more documents. You can control whether people sign at any time, or you can specify an order for them to sign. Documents can be signed individually, or as a batch. Once everyone has signed the signatures are placed on a new page which is appended to the end of the document. For some time Safe4 has supported people uploading a scan of their signature – and this is used on the signing page if present.

Feedback however has been that it can be confusing to setup and one of our most requested features is that the system allows signatures to be embedded in the document itself instead of being on a final appended page. This update brings this major enhancement, as well as making the whole process simpler for the person requesting signatures and the person being asked to sign.

Received Signature requests

A key enhancement is the new Signing Requests Received page, which collects all of the documents a user has been requested to sign.

Setting up signing

The improved signing system now allows you to place signatures into the pages of the document itself, when setting up a signing request simply indicate where you want each person’s signature to go on the documents. Each person can sign in more than one place in a document if required. The same options for signing in order and sign as a batch still exist, but the final result is a document with signatures embedded in the actual document itself.

Summary

Safe4 is used in many different ways, and some of you reading this will only ever receive or sign documents that one of our customers has shared with you. If that’s you, there’s nothing you need to do – you can carry on exactly as you do today. And if you’d ever like to explore using it within your own organisation, you’re welcome to get in touch or take a look at what Safe4 offers.

We appreciate the support of all our users and hope these improvements make Safe4 easier, faster and more accessible to you and your clients on whatever devices they want to use. No action needed on your part, no migration and your logins and vaults are all unchanged.

Major upgrade for Safe4

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2024 sees a major upgrade for Safe4

With the new year has come a major upgrade for Safe4. The highly secure information management and sharing service now has an enhanced user interface, with the ability to introduce a colour scheme of the customer’s choice.

The revamped user interface reflects a more modern and functionally rich experience for the user:

major upgrade for safe4, with document watermarking and enhanced branding

This new version of Safe4 is not just about cosmetic appearances, however. There are several significant changes to the functionality of the system…

This new version of Safe4 is not just about cosmetic appearances, however. There are several significant changes to the functionality of the system…

Documents can now be Watermarked

A highly configurable watermarking capability has been added as part of this major upgrade for Safe4. Any PDF file can show any chosen message, as well as a record of who has opened the document.

Documents in safe4 can be watermarked

This function also permits PDF files to be controlled, to help to reduce improper use of the information held in Safe4. Individual documents can be password controlled, and there are tools to support marking up PDF files, as well as preventing functions such as printing.

New user registration

New users will no longer be required to think of a username when accepting their invitation to register for Safe4. The system will apply the user’s email address as the username, simplifying the process and making it easier to remember usernames. If a user is invited to become a member of multiple vaults, they will simply have to enter a password and the system will automatically add them to the new vault.

Safe4 s hosted in the UK, on data centres accredited to ISO 27001. It complies with the Solicitors Regulation Authority guidance for cloud-based systems, and provides granular permissions, and a comprehensive audit trail and reporting capability.

If you would like more information on how the upgraded version of Safe4 can be of value to your business, please contact us. We will be delighted to assist.

MI5 warns of massive intellectual property theft

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As featured on the BBC website on 18 October 2023, the head of MI5 in the United Kingdom has warned of the massive scale of intellectual property theft by Chinese agents approaching UK businesses.

Ken McCallum, the Head of MI5, speaking at Stanford University in California at a meeting of the Five Eyes alliance, has warned of the risk that penetration of UK businesses by hostile agents now presents. Read the article on the BBC website in full here.

The UK is known internationally as the source of much original thinking and innovation in product and service design. This naturally makes UK a target at many levels for unlawful penetration and theft of data. Whilst this clearly affects businesses who are generating and managing confidential information, the risk is also a major issue for universities, from which many UK startup companies originate.

The Solution?

Safe4 Information Management was set up in 2010 to provide a highly secure service to allow organisations of any size and type to share confidential information securely. The unique architecture of Safe4 allows the creation of secure vaults in the cloud to which users can be invited selectively. Granular permission and access controls ensure that sensitive information cannot be accessed by unauthorised parties. This differs radically from most other online file sharing systems, which are simply ways of sharing folders. Safe4 uses UK-only hosting in ISO 27001 accredited data centres, and sophisticated file encryption. Comprehensive audit trails and reporting facilities support business best practice and good governance. Safe4 offers a genuinely safe and secure facility for managing confidential documents and structured data.

Intellectual capital is one of the UK’s prime national assets, and should be managed in the most secure way possible. The core design of Safe4 makes this simple and affordable for any organisation, whether public or private sector, and of any scale. Safe4 is used effectively by small specialist consultancies as well as large corporates and public sector customers.

Safe4 has been adopted by a range of different organisations across many different business sectors. If you would like to learn how using Safe4 can reduce the risk of intellectual property theft, please contact us. We will be delighted to assist.

Updated look and feel for Safe4 – new upload options

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As part of an ongoing process of refreshing the user interface, there is now an updated look and feel for Safe4. This is most apparent on the files and folders page, which is the most commonly used part of the system.

The screen has been redesigned to offer a clearer layout, with some of the buttons having been relocated and new icons introduced. Functionality remains the same, although an important change has been made to the way in which information can be uploaded to the system. As well as uploading files into a specific folder, Safe4 now supports the upload of complete folder structures in a single action. This includes complex sets of nested folders, with files at different levels. Safe4 will now create all of the folders and subfolders, and will position the file contents at the appropriate level.

This change in the upload process will allow new projects or data rooms to be added very quickly directly from Windows, without having to manually create subfolders and subfolders. As before, users who have access to the vault in question will receive automatic notification of all new uploads.

As always, this updated look and feel for Safe4 is accompanied by further security enhancements.

For more information on how Safe4 might be able to assist your organisation to manage and share information securely – without using email to transfer confidential documents or data – please contact us. We will be delighted to assist you.

Risk of using email for the transfer of confidential information

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The risk of using email for the transfer of confidential information has been highlighted yet again. In today’s edition of The Times, the penetration of an email system with criminal intent has led to the loss of confidential information.

The Safe4 system has been designed specifically to avoid the use of email for the transfer of confidential information. The secure vault, which is at the heart of the Safe4 architecture, can be used for a wide range of different applications. In order to access the contents of a vault, users have to have been specifically invited to do so, and must authenticate themselves with username, password and 2-factor authentication. Confidential information is never transferred by email.

Safe4 follows guidance from the UK National Cyber Security Centre for matters relating to password length and strength, and is regularly penetration-tested by UK Government accredited services. Combined with comprehensive reporting and audit trails, and UK-based hosting in data centres accredited to ISO 27001, Safe4 offers a secure alternative to the use of email to transfer confidential information.

For more information on how Safe4 can assist your organisation to reduce the risk of unauthorised access to your information, please contact us.

Enhanced User Experience for Safe4

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Safe4 is being constantly enhanced to keep up with the latest in security and in web development. We have just released a major improvement to the core screen handling your files. This modernises the appearance of the system, and critically for the first time in Safe4 enables the folders and files to scroll independently. Solving a challenge for some of our users who have long lists of folders or large numbers of files – making it easier to navigate and find the right information quickly.

 

The new appearance aims to be clearer and make better use of the screen space. There are also improvements when accessing the system on a mobile phone.

In enhancing the system we have moved some functions to make navigation more consistent. The previous ‘View’ menu, which was in the navigation bar at the top, has been replaced with some simple buttons.

These are now placed next to the name of the vault to which they apply, and can be accessed more easily with a single click.

The Navigation options at the top of the page now relate to global functions independent of the vault you are working in.

We hope these improvements make the system easier to use. Look out for further improvements as we apply the new design to more of the pages in the system.

NCSC warns of cyber threats to UK law firms

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The United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ) has warned again about the cyber threats to UK law firms. The renewed threat is largely being driven by legal practices adopting hybrid working patterns resulting from the pandemic, with staff increasingly spending more time working from home. More background is available in an article published in The Register on 26th June 2023.

Since law firms by definition handle highly confidential information, and are increasingly dealing with very large sums of cash on behalf of their clients, the opportunity for criminals to interfere with the transfer of information is enormous. In the words of NCSC, law firms are “particularly attractive targets to attackers”.

Cyber threats to UK law firms are not new – Safe4 Information Management was formed in 2010 specifically to allow organisations to exchange information with external parties without compromising the confidentiality of the information in question. Safe4 works with a number of law firms, both large and small, and has provided its secure vault-based service to legal practices across the UK. One of the key elements in the approach adopted by Safe4 is that confidential information is NEVER transferred by email. Invitations and notifications are sent by email, but users have to authenticate themselves with a username, password and optionally 2-factor authentication before any confidential information is made available.

One of the instances where this is most valuable is with the provision of bank details by clients. Using the structured data capabilities of Safe4, clients can be invited to enter their bank details into an online form, which when completed notifies the professional practitioner that the data has been provided. The practitioner, or fee-earner, will then have read-only access to this information after they have carried out the necessary authentication. The bank details can then be used for their intended purpose, and optionally transferred into other internal systems by API.

The Register article makes the point that some of the attackers are nation states, with access to very sophisticated tools. In particular, brute-force attack technologies are being used to penetrate systems by exploiting weak passwords. To mitigate this risk, Safe4 has implemented NCSC recommendations relating to password length and strength.

All of the information held in Safe4 is stored in UK-only data centres accredited to ISO 27001. Safe4 is penetration tested regularly, and is accredited under the UK Cyber Essentials scheme by Government approved organisations under the CHECK protocol.

If you would like more information on how Safe4 can help with the battle against cyber attack, please contact us. We will be delighted to assist.