Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Sometimes you may wish to share information electronically with others at Penn that is too sensitive or confidential to send via email or messaging applications, which are inherently insecure. PennKey holders with active faculty, staff, or student affiliations have multiple options available.

Secure Share

How it works: When users upload, download  and store files via Secure Share, those files are encrypted in transit and in storage. Secure Share ensures those files reach only the intended recipient(s), sending e-mail notifications when the files are available for retrieval. Files are automatically deleted after they are retrieved; files that aren’t retrieved within 30 days are deleted from the system.

When to use it: Secure Share is Penn’s preferred method of transferring protected health information (PHI), financial information, Social Security Numbers, and other highly sensitive information. Secure Share should not be used as a document storage mechanism, but rather a safe alternative to file-exchange methods for static documents.

Penn+Box 

How it works: Penn+Box is a cloud-based collaboration service for securely managing and sharing files and folders both within the Penn community and also with external collaborators. Users can access, create, manage, and distribute content across various device types and operating systems. Penn+Box also ensures that University data and intellectual property are securely protected.

When to use it: For a longer-term platform for your files, consider Penn+Box. Files uploaded to Penn+Box are not removed unless intentionally deleted by a user. Penn+Box also has collaboration and versioning features, allowing document owners to dynamically update both content and also collaborator permissions as documents and groups evolve over time.

Pro Tips

Check with your Local Support Provider for help with using these services in accordance with your School or Center’s guidelines. Also be sure to actively review your downloaded local files when using these secure sharing tools in order to guard against inadvertent storage of sensitive information on your local device.

Learn more about the Secure Share service: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/secure-share

Learn more about the Penn+Box service: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/pennbox

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead