| Website | cipherdocs.com |
| @cipherdocs | |
| Category | Security |
| Phone | 0035318962896 |
| htewari@cs.tcd.ie | |
| Employees | 6 |
| Founded | 8/11 |
| Description | Secure Cloud Documents |
| TOTAL | $530k |
| FUNDING TOTAL | $530k |
| Grant, 8/11 | $200k |
| Grant, 10/12 | $330k |
CipherDocs for Google Docs is a document encryption technology for securing documents that are stored on Google’s servers. The CipherDocs software plugin, which once installed into a Web browser, encrypts the user data in “real-time” (i.e. as the user is typing into their browser window), prior to it being sent to Google’s servers.
Google Docs is an online version of a document formatting technology equivalent to the likes of Microsoft Word, with the notable difference that the documents are stored in the Cloud and the user interface to edit the documents is through a Web browser. As a user types into the document data is sent to the Google servers without the need for clicking a save button. Although the network connection between the users Web browser and the Google servers is secure, the user data is kept in cleartext at rest on the Google servers, and can potentially be viewed by anyone with the correct level of access. This can pose problems for organizations and individuals that wish to store sensitive information (such as financial data, project plans, patient records etc.) in their documents. As part of the CipherDocs suite of applications we have developed a Firefox plugin that transparently intercepts the user data prior to it being sent to the Google servers, and encrypts the same using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256). So at no point does Google have access to the user data.
In addition, Google Docs allows users to share their documents and allows multiple people to collaboratively edit a document. CipherDocs preserves this core functionality and allows for the secure sharing of Google Docs. We do this by transparently and securely sharing the document encryption key between the intended recipients through our KeyHub service. CipherDocs has further developed a “mobile keychain” solution such that a user can access their documents from any machine as long as they have the plugin installed. In the event a user loses their laptop or the hard disk dies, they do not lose access to their documents. At no point do we have access to user decryption keys as these are at all times protected by a user-chosen master password.
We are currently extending the functionality of the software to encrypt Google Spreadsheets and Presentations and also looking to expand the offering to others browsers such as Chrome and IE. The team is also working on two new exciting products namely CipherDocs for Microsoft Office and Cipherdocs for Dropbox. More details about the products and a trial version of the software can be found at http://www.cipherdocs.com
Securing Office 365
Added: 3/8/13
