Proposed successor to Safe Harbor is “inadequate”

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The EU has indicated that the replacement to the US – EU Safe Harbor data privacy arrangement, known as Privacy Shield, is inadequate, and does not offer sufficient protection for confidential data being shared by organisations who operate on both sides of the Atlantic. More detail is available: click here.

The risks associated with holding confidential information in jurisdictions that do not apply the same data privacy approach as the UK was the primary reason why Safe4 hosts all of its data in UK data centres only, accredited to the ISO 27001 security standard. Together with annual penetration testing performed under the UK Government’s CHECK scheme, and sophisticated encryption of all stored data, Safe4 offers a highly secure environment for the sharing and storage of confidential information.

For more information on the security measures taken by Safe4 to protect customers’ information, please contact us.

Health data services moving to the cloud?

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Discussions over the suitability of the cloud for the storage and management of confidential information have grown in intensity in recent years, as the use of cloud-based resources has increased dramatically.

There has long been resistance to the use of cloud data services to handle clinical information relating to individuals’ health, based on concerns over the levels of security that cloud service providers offer, despite some cloud services being demonstrably more secure than many internally hosted systems. There is indeed an argument that maintaining health data relating to certain conditions in the cloud can help to save lives. This concept is being trialled internationally, with interesting results – click here for more information.

Safe4 provide cloud-based information management services for a number of organisations in the UK and internationally for whom security is of paramount importance – using only UK-located data centres accredited to the ISO 27001 security standard.  For more information on how using Safe4 might benefit your organisation, please contact us. We would welcome an opportunity to talk with you.

More evidence of the need to capture the Digital Legacy

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A recent article on the BBC Technology website (click here) has highlighted once again the need for a means to capture the important elements of our digital lives, so that loved ones can gain access to the vital information and valuable memories that we leave behind. As we all use digital devices more and more, we are generating information about our lives that can so easily be captured if we have have access to a facility that can hold passwords and other private details.

The Safe4 Digital Inheritance Vault, launched at the Society of Will Writers annual conference in October 2015, provides a facility for clients of the Society’s members to store highly confidential information about their life and their legacy that even the will-writer cannot see. This information will be released to the executor nominated in the will after the testator’s death, so that the details can be used to carry out the probate process. The Digital Vault can also be used to keep usernames, passwords and PINs for online accounts completely private. Access to electronic devices, which themselves may hold large amounts of personal information such as messages and photographs, can also be made available to the family, in accordance with the testator’s wishes.

The Digital Inheritance Vault is now being taken up by more and more of the Society’s members, so that they can offer their clients a secure and efficient way to handle this sensitive but valuable information.

For more details on the Digital Inheritance Vault, and how it can be used to capture the Digital Legacy, please get in touch with us.

Safe4 to exhibit at Society of Will Writers Annual Conference, 2016

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The Society of Will Writers Annual Conference in October 2015 saw the official launch of the Safe4 Digital Inheritance Vault, a highly secure facility for managing a client’s estate plan and capturing their digital legacy for future generations. The 2016 conference will take place on 10 and 11 October, at the Abbey Hotel in Redditch, Worcestershire.

Safe4 will be exhibiting once again, and will feature enhancements to the Digital Inheritance Vault, as well as updating the conference on progress with the introduction of the vault to members. Response by the membership of the Society has been strong, with a number of will-writing businesses having signed up and now actively offering the service to their clients.

Another month of 100% availability, and record new user sign-ups for Safe4

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April 2016 saw another 100% record of availability for Safe4, according to an independent monitoring service. This contrasts strongly with a number of other online services – one of the UK’s leading banks, for example, suffered an outage over the recent bank holiday weekend that had a severe impact on client services.

User sign-ups in April were also a new record, as a result of Safe4 customers initiating new data rooms and projects. Usage of the Safe4 secure document delivery and storage service has been growing steadily since inception in 2010, reinforcing the confidence that customers have shown in the security and effectiveness of the system, and the value that it brings to their client relationships.

For more information on how Safe4 can help your business, please contact us.

Safe4 launches new mobile interface

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Safe4 version 4.4 has now been released, and provides an interface specifically designed for the mobile user. Making use of “responsive” design techniques, Safe4 will detect that a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet is being used, and will change the interface accordingly. This will assist users by altering the format of the display depending on whether the device is being held in portrait or landscape mode.

Since many users will still need to access some of the core Safe4 functionality from their mobile devices, such as renaming files or reviewing file histories, an option to use the standard desktop web user interface on the mobile device is retained.

Another useful facility is the ability to upload photographs from a tablet or smartphone directly into the vault of the user’s choosing. This has been verified on Apple devices, including iPhones and iPads, and on Android smartphones. Again, this will assist users who need to capture an image of a paper document, or some other evidential record in photographic form, by enabling instantaneous upload. Safe4 will notify authorised users of the upload in the normal way, and will update audit trails accordingly.

The future development programme for Safe4 continues to bring forward additional capabilities, to enhance the service by increasing the functionality and flexibility of the system, and by building on the best-in-class security and reliability attributes that Safe4 has established.

For more information on how Safe4 can assist your business to achieve reductions in cost, better client service and improved compliance, please contact us.

Safe4 achieves Cyber Essentials accreditation and recognition against the IASME standard

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IASME selfcert badge

In March 2016, Safe4 Information Management achieved further recognition for its safe and secure delivery and storage of customers’ documents. By achieving certification to the IASME governance standard, recognised by the UK Government as the best cyber security standard for small companies, Safe4 demonstrated continuing capability to provide a secure and trusted environment for customers and their clients to manage documents online.

At the same time, Safe4 successfully renewed its government Cyber Essentials accreditation and, with its continuing use of UK based ISO 27001 accredited data centres, is compliant with UK Government requirements for online document management and with the requirements of regulatory bodies in the professions.

The IASME (Information Assurance for Small and Medium Enterprises) standard links with international ISO/IEC 27001 standards and represents best practice for SMEs in this sphere.  It is derived from UK Government guidance, international standards, as well as best practice from the EU, USA, and significant engagement with a wide variety of SMEs and other sources.

Safe4 is committed to maintaining the highest levels of security in the management of all customer data, and plans to enhance the level of compliance with recognised standards during 2016. To find out more about the security measures Safe4 undertakes, and how this can benefit your business, please contact us.

Not all providers of cloud-based services are the same …

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An increasing number of major IT companies are now offering cloud-based computing services. Many of them are household names, often associated with the technologies we all use every day such as email, online shopping, and search engines. But are they ideal places to manage and store critical or confidential information?

Another instance of non-availability of cloud services has been highlighted in the media this week. Whilst every service provider may occasionally suffer from problems caused by human error, offering a high level of availability in conjunction with exceptional standards of security demands a different approach from that provided by many of the industry’s leading names. This approach is one of many factors that differentiates Safe4 from the majority of service providers who use cloud-based facilities.

Holding all customer data in UK-based data centres accredited to the ISO 27001 international standard for information security is not the cheapest way to make cloud-based services available, but that is the approach taken by Safe4. Equally, compliance with the requirements of regulatory bodies such as the UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority is not easy or straightforward – but again, this is the path Safe4 has chosen to follow.

We would be delighted to provide you with more detail on how Safe4 can assist your business to manage confidential information safely and securely; please get in touch with us.

Are law firms really slow to adopt new technology?

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A recent article on the BBC website asks, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, whether technology can bring lawyers into the 21st Century.  The media often portray lawyers as clinging on to time-honoured practices, increasing the time taken to pursue cases – as well as the charges to their clients.

But is this accurate? Whilst it is true that a number of smaller law firms in the UK are reluctant to embrace technology, many leading firms have made substantial investments in IT, and are increasingly using technology to reduce costs and improve client service. The arrival of fixed fee charging has made a difference, no doubt partially driven by the Alternative Business Structures legislation a few years ago that has seen high-profile corporate new entrants into the legal sector.

Safe4 works with a number of law firms, and is seeing heavy usage by a number of them across a range of business sectors: virtual data rooms for corporate mergers and acquisitions, residential and commercial property, dispute resolution, employment law, family law, sport and leisure, and inheritance planning to name but a few. Safe4 have invested heavily in ensuring adherence to Solicitors Regulation Authority guidance, thus reducing risk for their customers.

For more detail on how using Safe4 can save law firms money, enhance client service and improve compliance, please contact us. We will be very happy to assist you.

Problems originated by email continue – often with costly and damaging consequences

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The ransomware attack on Lincolnshire County Council last week has now been resolved, but once again the dangers that may lurk within email messages have been highlighted. When members of any organisation are accustomed to using email to transfer information that is critical or necessary for the business, the likelihood of inadvertently opening messages that contain harmful malware is increased. A county council will recover from the damage caused by such a problem; a small or medium sized business may not.

One of the sectors that is potentially exposed to such risks is the legal profession. It is estimated that more than 70% of UK law firms regularly communicate confidential client information in open email systems.

Safe4 offers a secure and reliable service for the transfer of confidential information to anyone with access to the Internet. Flexible configuration options mean that it can be applied to a variety of business requirements. Contact us for more information on how we can help your organisation to reduce costs, improve compliance and enhance customer service.