Private Email Network (PEN): a Controlled, Centralized Secure Message & Attachments Repository
Secure the line, not just the message: the email2 platform takes secure messaging to a new level, giving you ownership of a secure communication path from sender to recipient through your own, fully branded Private Email Network or PEN. Every message is secure, tracked and auditable allowing you to prove who read your communication and what they did with it, AND it still works with your current message encryption system for additional security.
A Private E-mail Network (PEN) is a way for organizations to retain control of the information that they send over e-mail without adopting a whole new system of communication. A PEN is like a “gated e-mail community” available only to members that have been invited and completed the registration and authentication process. Members can belong to multiple PENs and select the most appropriate channel for a particular communication. Using a PEN doesn’t mean that you have to replace any technology that is currently in place like your e-mail addresses and or e-mail programs. The email2 platform acts as a secure message gateway by bringing a more reliable protocol to your existing e-mail infrastructure.
Most other secure e-mail solutions available work by encrypting the message being sent using local certificates and public/private key pairs. Beyond the practical problems associated with setting up and maintaining these solutions, especially for users outside of your organization, a larger issue is that once those secure messages leave your mail server, they are sent over an unsecured and unreliable SMTP network without any tracking or audit capabilities. Copies of your messages can be left on servers that neither you nor your recipient control or they can just become lost in cyberspace.
A Private Email Network (PEN) utilizes a closed-loop of secure and redundant servers for all email communication. Data backups are regular and handled with appropriate management controls to ensure privacy and security. The PEN manages all secure messaging functions including message transport, encrypted database storage, archiving and tracking. When a member sends a secure email2 message, a direct and secure connection is established between the sender’s client (e.g. MS Outlook) and the PEN server. When a notification message is received, the member recipient uses the same client (e.g. MS Outlook, web client, or handheld mobile web client), to directly and securely connect to the PEN to retrieve the message, attachments, voice and video message, and associated metadata contained in the Delivery Slip. Information exchanged on a PEN can only be accessed by members of that same PEN with the correct credentials (e-mail address and password or more). Confidential information in secure email2 messages can only be viewed by the members that they are intended for.
Having a single, secure message repository enables your organization to facilitate e-mail compliance standards. In the event of a local disaster, secure email2 messages are unaffected because your data resides in an encrypted state on a remote server. In effect your PEN can be viewed as a full-featured disaster recovery tool for your most sensitive communications.
Secure email2 messages can be stored by Outlook into the traditional e-mail server repository (e.g. Exchange) as any other basic e-mail messages (optional, if enabled by the PEN Admin). This means that all company data is stored behind the company’s firewall and any existing archiving or indexing e-mail systems will still work with secure messages. Although the email2 platform creates a second data store for all your secure email2 messages, it does not create a ‘separate’ data store: when sent or retrieved, all your secure email2 messages can be stored on your e-mail server as any other basic e-mail messages, ensuring your archiving and indexing infrastructure still works. If at any point a member stops using the PEN and uninstall the Outlook Toolbar, these downloaded secure messages will behave as any other basic e-mail messages, without the added functionality of the PEN (e.g. Delivery Slip with tracking metadata, etc.). None of the company data is ever lost even if you stop using your PEN.
//Edited: June 2009