This 'invisible security layer' for your Dropbox files now lets you email attachments without fuss

Email attachments: Normally pretty low on people’s list of favorite things in the world. But what’s even worse is having to download apps and software just to open an email attachment.

Cloud-storage compliance layer Sookasa is now making it easy to open those extra-secure attachments by taking away the need to download or set up anything. As of today, you can email a link to a Sookasa-secured file to a recipient who can immediately download it simply by clicking on the link. The file remains under Sookasa’s HIPPA-compliance layer the entire time until its downloaded onto the recipient’s device.

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Sookasa is a compliance layer for cloud storage (only Dropbox so far) that provides additional security to cloud-stored files for regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services, and education. It takes the form of a special folder within the Dropbox account where files are stored for additional security.

Moreover, to make sure that the file goes to the intended recipient, clicking on the link in the original email triggers a second email in which the recipient can find the link to the download, a sort of “two-step authentication.”

“Our goal is really to allow employees in areas where information is really sensitive… to use their favorite tools, and we won’t bother them too much with security,” Sookasa cofounder and chief executive Asaf Cidon told VentureBeat in an interview.

Senders can also set up the parameters of the download link, such as making it expire after it’s been downloaded or if it hasn’t been downloaded after a certain amount of time, and so on. The company sees it as giving the sender additional control over the sensitive files once they’ve been sent.

“The main thing we’re trying to prevent in this scenario is accidental mistakes,” said Cidon.

When I first heard about this new capability, I immediately thought of the sharing permissions of Google Drive, options such as sharing with “specific people,” “people with the link,” “anyone at your organization,” and so on. Here, we also have cloud-based file storage and sharing, in-browser viewing, and customizable permissions.

However, Google Drive is not HIPPA compliant, and that’s the differentiator Sookasa is selling. Of course, not everyone wants or needs HIPPA compliance, and not everyone uses Dropbox for file storage and sharing; but for those who do, this should be a welcome capability.

The company has already been testing this with a few customers, including SonoCiné and Atman Insurance Services.

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Sookasa was founded in 2011 and is based in San Mateo, Calif. The company raised $5 million in April from Accel Partners, First Round Capital, SV Angel, and others, bringing its total funding to $1.6 million.