By Tom Chappelow, Nimbox
“Nimbox enables corporate Cloud file sharing and backup, allowing users to securely upload, edit and recover documents anywhere in the world.”
The idea was simple – to create an easy to use, secure and available service that was accessible enough for everybody. We wanted SMEs and start-ups to have enterprise level security. We wanted it to offer unparalleled levels of privacy, whilst keeping it compliant. Above all, we wanted users to trust us with their data.
Corporate executives would have called it blue sky thinking – we called it “Nimbox”.
The System View of Nimbox
We decided that the service would be built with privacy at its core. It’s for this reason that, before we put our tech-heads on, we created a legal framework that sets out exactly what we could and couldn’t protect. To us, transparency is as important as the security of your data.
We wanted SMEs and start-ups to have enterprise level security.
Today, Nimbox boasts some of the most advanced information security methods available, but it wasn’t an easy road to get here. Before I tell you about our technical security, I’ll focus on a moral issue – an issue that we tackled with from day one.
Most large Cloud hosting companies design and run ‘bots’ that crawl through user data looking for copyright infringement, information relating to national security and examples of indecent material. We took the hard decision to not do this. Not because we think copyright infringement is OK, or because we don’t care about national security; but, because we think that the fundamental right to privacy is one that must be protected. After all, it was Benjamin Franklin who told us that “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Once we had decided that we didn’t want access to our users’ files or to store any information about them […]we could make the easy decision to offer end-to-end encryption, to which only the user holds the key.
Once we had decided that we didn’t want access to our users’ files or to store any information about them, which we didn’t explicitly need to provide the service, we could make the easy decision to offer end-to-end encryption, to which only the user holds the key.
We have not, and we will not join any governmental system that allows for the interception of user data.
From the start it was clear that security had to run parallel with usability, after all there is no point offering a service which is so secure, that it inconveniences the user. Users had to love the product as much as we do. Because of this, we offer browser based and desktop access to files, as well as Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.
…there is no point offering a service which is so secure, that it inconveniences the user… Because of this, we offer browser based and desktop access to files, as well as Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.
App is PIN protected
Our security standards are what you would expect from a privacy first company: our security protocols include AES 256-bit data-at-rest encryption, TLS 1.2, SHA-256 fingerprinting, password hashing with twelve-character random salt and 20,000 iterations of HMAC-SHA256 via PBKDF2, as well as physical hosting in ISO27001 accredited Tier 3 data centres.
But security and ease of use without availability is no help at all. That’s why Nimbox is hosted on our industry-leading virtual platform, offering 99.999% uptime and daily platform-level backup. We also recognised that although customers want to store their files with us, they may want to bill with their favourite supplier – so we have opened our doors to those resellers that share our values, whilst we maintain the security and operational infrastructure of the service.
In summary, we offer a useful range of services that stretch from desktop and server backup and file sync and share, to document collaboration and mobile access – all protected by a robust legal and ethical framework that protects your privacy. We believe we’re the best, and we plan to prove this to our users each and every day.
For more information visit www.nimbox.co.uk, email [email protected] or call +44 (0) 8454 75 75 74
