Q. Why is Evizone more secure than my current email? Why can I trust Evizone?
A. When you send an email and document attachments, that email and any attachments it contains may be stored:
In addition, when you send an email, you are truly sending it and you now lack control of that email and any documents attached to it. While users can provide passwords for attachments they have sent, once the recipient opens the attachment, they can now copy, save, print or forward the content.
With Evizone, all messages and documents are stored within the service. When a recipient opens a message or document, they can only view the contents. They cannot save, copy, forward or print the message or document. In fact, the message or document is never permanently stored on the recipient's computer. The sender has complete control over when the recipient can view the communication. With Evizone, you can choose to withdraw a message or document from view anytime after it has been sent.
All of your communications with Evizone utilize state of the art encryption technology to secure both the transmission and storage of your messages and documents. This strong security is an unavoidable by-product of using Evizone. You, the user, do not need to know anything about encryption or securing communications. By using the Evizone service, all of your communications will be secure.
Finally, Evizone does not store a copy of your private encryption key and only receives and uses an encoded version of your password to confirm your identity. This means that Evizone staff cannot login to your service using your password. Each time you change your password, Evizone will automatically generate and install a new encryption key on your computer. Finally, all of the messages and documents you send will be stored in encrypted form in the Evizone service. ... return to top
Q. Do I need to install software to make use of the Evizone service?
A. Yes, Evizone requires you to download and install software in order to use the service.
When using Evizone, messages and documents cannot be copied, saved, forwarded or printed. However, Evizone's rich internet client software also prevents the use of print screen, screen capture and recording tools and web conferencing. These common tools are often used successfully against other private email and data room tools as a means of bypassing and compromising copy protection. Once a copy is or can be made, the whole reason for securing confidential communications is compromised. Evizone's copy protection eliminates these threats.
The software will also be used to manage, send and view messages and documents within the service. However, even though the Evizone client is being run on the desktop, the messages and documents being sent and viewed will not be stored on your hard drive. All messages and documents posted to the Evizone service are stored and managed on Evizone servers.
After the initial installation of Evizone software, the Evizone application will automatically check for software updates each time it starts. If an update is available, you will be asked whether or not you wish to apply the update. Unlike other applications, Evizone updates do not require a full software download and installation. Most updates take little time, can be done while you wait and do not require that you restart your computer. ... return to top
Q. If I have a group subscription, what happens when someone leaves? What happens to their messages and documents?
A. Each group subscription has an account owner; typically the payer for the subscription. Optionally, the account owner can also designate a security manager for the subscription. The account owner and the security manager are the only subscribers within a subscription who can add and remove subscribers from the subscription.
When an individual subscriber is "deleted", they are actually moved to a deactivated state which leaves open the option of reactivation in the future. Unlike conventional email, Evizone has built in business continuity; i.e. the organized management of the departing user's messages and documents.
Each subscriber in Evizone can own topics, participate in topics and send Evigrams to other users. After deleting a user, the account owner and security manager have complete control over the departing subscriber's communications and can decide whether the departing user's messages and documents remain accessible or are withdrawn from view. For topics owned by the departing subscriber, they can choose to transfer or drop that ownership. In making these decisions, the account owner and security manager do not have access to the message or document content. ... return to top
Q. Do I need to go through my IT department to start using Evizone?
A. Evizone has made it simple to register for the service online, download the Evizone software and start using the service. It typically takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete this process. Further, the Evizone service itself is designed to be easily managed by a user. So, the question of whether you need to go through your IT department to start using Evizone is a more a question of your company's policies with respect to downloading software online and making use of online services. These policies can vary from organization to organization. The online registration process provided through this web site is meant to meet the needs of users who are able to do so.
Some organizations will require that IT be responsible for the installation, support, administration and use of the Evizone service. Further, these organizations may require a service level agreement (SLA) with Evizone in order to meet the specific needs of the organization and the group of users being served. Companies wanting to contact Evizone to discuss an IT supported deployment of Evizone can contact Evizone at enterprise@evizone.com.
Finally, users downloading Evizone software while connected to the corporate network; either directly or remotely through a VPN, may need IT assistance if the software download is blocked by the corporate firewall settings. Users working remotely, can disconnect from the VPN in order to connect directly with the software download. ... return to top
Q. Who is Evizone?
A. Evizone was founded by four individuals with collectively over 100 years of business and technology experience.
The initial idea for the service started several years ago when one of the principles was contracted to design, manage and deliver a special project. Two companies were suing each other and the one company delivered a tractor trailer of printed documents and emails as part of the discovery process. The special project was to make all of this content electronic and searchable by the company's legal team. This was done on time and on budget. However, the impression had been made.
With 97% of all communications now occuring electronically, the current approach of email and document attachments has created a largely unmanaged mess for most companies. These communications now have an almost perpetual life in the backups of email servers and users hard drives, in printed copy and on USB thumb drives. The same is true on each recipient's computer. Rarely is there just one copy of a confidential document. A few to several copies is more likely.
The consequence of this is that most companies carry the unbudgeted liability of large discovery costs in the event of legal action and the unaccounted for possibility that an errant email, mis-interpretted in a court of law, could lead to a ruling against the company. The solution to this lies in the proper management, stewardship, security and disposal of temporary confidential communications.
The broad experience of the Evizone team brought together the elements required to create Evizone.
This experience was brought together to create a unique online service for managing confidential messages and documents. A common issue in securing confidential communications has been the reliance of the user taking specific action in order to secure a message or document. There are many bolt-on solutions to conventional email which require that a user specifically encrypt their communications and then provide a password to the recipient on the other side.
Evizone has been created as communications service first. The proper management, stewardship, security and disposal of confidential communications is an unavoidable by-product of using the service. The user does not need to take specific action. They simply use the service to communicate and Evizone will automatically ensure the confidentiality of the communications. ... return to top
Q. Does the person I'm sending a message or document to need to be an Evizone subscriber?
A. No, your use of the Evizone service allows you to send messages and documents to not only other Evizone subscribers but to non-subscribers as well. When you send a message or document to a non-subscriber, they will receive a conventional email notifying them that you use Evizone to manage your confidential communications and have sent them a message or document using the service. They will be provided with the option to accept or decline this communication
If they accept this communication, they will be required to register as a guest with the service, download the software and use the service to read your message or document. Having done so, the guest will be able to view and reply to the message or document you have posted. Since they will be using Evizone, they will not be able to copy, save, forward or print your message or document.
The guest use of the Evizone service will be paid for with your subscription. Each Evizone subscriber receives a monthly allotment of 2000 Standard Page Views (SPVs). This allotment provides enough resource for medium use. As the guest user views and posts messages and documents, their usage will be deducted from your allotment. ... return to top
Q. What is an Evizone topic?
A. Evizone uses the familiar model of exchanging written documents and correspondence amongst a workgroup focused on a given theme. We refer to this theme as a 'topic'. A topic can be created by any Evizone subscriber. In creating a topic, the subscriber needs to determine and provide the following:
The creator of a topic becomes that topic's "owner". The topic owner is the only subscriber within a topic who can add and remove topic members. All of the messages and documents which users view and post to a topic are subject to the topic's life cycle policy. In setting the life cycle policy, the owner provides a publication date, an accessibility period during which content can be viewed and posted and a retention period during which contained after the topic accessibility period expires or is closed. Once the retention period expires all content will be permanently deleted from the system and will not be present in any backup form.
All topic members including guests can view and post messages and documents within the topic. Subscribers can withdraw their messages and documents from view at any time and can control which topic members have access to their documents and when. ... return to top
Q. How does Evizone compare to other ways of securing communications?
A. Evizone differs from other ways of securing communications in a few ways:
One, with Evizone, messages and documents are never permanently stored on the sender's or recipient's computer. Messages and documents posted to Evizone are only stored within the Evizone service, i.e. in the cloud. Posted messages and documents are then viewed on demand by users with the sender's permission. This method of securing communications has many benefits:
- Messages and documents are not communicated through the conventional email service. There are no copies or traces of documents or messages within any email server or its backups.
- Messages and documents can be withdrawn from view at any time; even while a recipient is viewing the content. The automated recording of access history notifies the sender as to who has read a withdrawn message, how many times and when.
- Evizone automatically manages the life cycle handling of documents and messages. Since the documents and messages are only stored in the Evizone service, Evizone will automatically and permanently delete messages and documents when their retention period expires. Once permanently deleted, a message or document no longer exists anywhere as, with Evizone, these communications can not be saved, copied, printed or forwarded; they can only be viewed. Other secure communications often leave copies of encrypted messages and documents in multiple locations.
Two, with Evizone, messages and documents cannot be copied, saved, forwarded or printed. However, Evizone's rich internet client also prevents the use of print screen, screen capture and recording tools and web conferencing. These common tools are often used successfully against other private email and data room tools as a means of bypassing and compromising copy protection. Once a copy is or can be made, the whole reason for securing confidential communications is compromised. Evizone's copy protection eliminates these threats.
Three, while Evizone can be used to secure individual messages and documents, it excels at workgroup communications. In the time it takes to send a short email, Evizone subscribers can set up a workgroup for the exchange of documents and messages amongst a defined group of users. Further, the Evizone subscriber can define the access and retention periods for these communications; ensuring that messages and documents are permanently deleted at the appropriate time.... return to top
