Vera and Box: Enterprise Security for Files on the Move

Enterprise data security vendor Vera has announced an integration with Box that will allow Box users to extend Vera’s “military-grade” encryption, file-level usage rights and classification controls to files that are stored in Box while maintaining those controls anywhere the file travels on any device.

According to Grant Shirk, Vera’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, “Vera can encrypt any file directly from the desktop when it’s attached to an email and now, Vera [can extend that encryption] to files uploaded to Box.”

With the integration, companies can designate specific folders and have content automatically secured and tracked by Vera "the moment it’s uploaded from web, desktop or mobile." he added.

The announcement came today at the start of day two of #BoxWorks 2015, the Box user conference.

Traveling File Security

Vera’s data security technology works by wrapping designated files in a secure shell that travels with the data wherever it goes.

For each secured file, Vera allows for central management of usage policies and access rights in Vera’s secure cloud service. This gives Vera ― and now Box ― users the ability to track files, change their usage rights and even instantly revoke access to a given file.

Vera’s integration with Box will allow these actions to be taken without touching any data in the files themselves or impacting any of Box’s native functionality such as content editing, easy file sharing or collaboration features.

Vera and Box’s partnership was forged against the background of growing demand for better security in enterprise file sync and sharing (EFSS) systems.

At the root of the problem has been the tendency of workers in many organizations to turn to personal file sync and sharing (FSS) applications when their workplace file sharing applications can’t offer the speed and agility of FSS applications like Dropbox.

However, the trade-off until now has been that these FSS systems don’t come with enterprise level security. With collaboration continuing to grow as a factor in the enterprise workplace, more and more data needs to be shared and protected across the firewall.

The kinds of protections that are needed are also changing.

Vera’s Shirk noted that, “Enterprise security is making a rapid shift away from investing in perimeter and endpoint-based solutions to technology that can protect assets directly. This is security at the information level, for data in use. When content, communications, applications and structured data are all designed to travel, security and control have to travel with them.”

Companies are also increasingly calling for a means of control over a part of their operations they don’t normally have access to, namely what happens to their data beyond the firewall.

What sets Vera’s partnership with Box apart?

Shirk believes one key component is that enterprise workers will readily adopt the new technology because it won’t require them to change the way they work.

He was also quick to note that, “While many sync and share solutions provide enterprise-grade security for content at rest on their servers, these protections stop the moment files are shared, removed or downloaded. For companies looking to protect financial data and confidential business records, extending that protection beyond the firewall is critical to their operations.”

Box users will also be able to use Vera’s technology to secure images, video and other content in addition to Office and PDF files.

Vera has plans to extend its reach in the future to secure emails, structured data and cloud services.

Noted Grant Shirk, "One of the lingering doubts about cloud is the perceived loss of control. The thinking ― or the worry ― goes that if the servers are beyond the organization’s perimeter what happens to them and the data they contain can no longer be secured.”

“We want technologies like those provided by Vera to give even the most conservative organizations the ability to extend policy, access rights and control anywhere,” he concluded.

Title image from Twitter.