Securer file sharing with Dropbox « practically efficient

Zip your files

Put the zip file in your Dropbox ‘Public’ folder

Email the file link, not the file

Great advice on sending sensitive stuff via Dropbox . And pretty close to what I do. With this handful of paranoid additions involving chaos and automation:

Parent Folder . in your “ ~/Dropbox/Public ” folder, create a new folder with a sensible name like, “ seekritstuff ”

James Bond Naming . Keep a sane name for the uncompressed source doc you’re sending (say, “ 2010_income.txt ”), but rename the zipped version of that file with a random name e.g., something like, “ I8-H~*gY{4%u.zip ” TIP: 1password can generate a “password”-style string that makes a swell file name Maybe an unnecessary step. But it does makes the file name way harder to just guess

Hazel help . Most Important. Create a Hazel rule for “ ~/Dropbox/Public/seekritstuff ” that automatically moves any file it contains to a local/non-Dropbox folder on your Mac n days or hours after “Date Added” Mine’s set to 36 hours, but your setting can be whatever suits you and your recipients

Two-steppin’ . Yes, send your recipient the link to that zipped file (NOT the actual file)–but do so in a separate and obscure-looking email that makes no reference to either previous emails or the link’s contents. Viz. SUBJECT : thing for you

B–

here’s that thing

http://i-0.us/e4wQcw

call or text me with questions



/m Even better still? Send that link to a different email address for that person, or TEXT them the URL

In general? Just never hurts to mix it up. All of it.

It’s a start.

Like anything that touches an open network–and most especially anything that touches email–it’s a solution that’s far from perfect. But, to my mind, it feels a little safer than crap like sending plaintext via email.

Seriously. My mind is boggled by how many people throw sensitive stuff around in email to complete strangers—the equivalent of writing a password on a postcard. Then pinning it to the corkboard in the laundromat. Insane.