File Link Security

10min

CloudFiles offers many security features as settings on its links. These settings can be range from basic security such activating / de-activating the link to complex ones such as setting access control and file subscriptions. These settings can be updated anytime by the user manually or through a host of automation actions.

In this article we provide an overview of all these settings. The sub-sections below provide basic information and links to more detailed articles on these security settings.

Activate / De-activate the Link

The status feature will give you powers to instantly disable access to your shared links from your recipients by changing Online link status to an Offline link status. Additionally, you can also instantly enable the access back using the same toggle. This toggling can also be achieved using automations.

To change the status of the links of your docs, you must navigate to the link settings screen from the content library. The status toggle is usually one of the first options on this screen. The GIF below shows how to toggle the link status. You can also read more details in the step by step guide to Toggle Link Offline or Onlineο»Ώ in CloudFiles.

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Disable File Download

CloudFiles allows granular control over the download, print and text copy settings of your files. Using the app, you can switch off downloads which automatically turns off printing & copying abilities as well. You can also re-allow downloads at any time by using the same toggle which turns everything back on. Additionally CloudFiles also provides a feature of making your file directly downloadable.

You can use a simple switch on the Link Settings page to enable / disable downloading of the file. The following GIF shows how to access the link settings page. This page contains various security and analytics related configurations of the link. This also shows the download toggle which is usually on the top. More details are available in the article on Download, Print & Copy Settingsο»Ώ.

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Password Protection

CloudFiles can help create password protected links for any type of files, folders, datarooms or even web URLs. When enabled, your files can only be viewed by people having the secret password. This security features enables businesses to protect their files from prying eyes. This password can also be updated and removed on the fly or even added after the link has already been sent.

To set the password, head over to the Link Settings page and locate the password setting under Security Settings. The just toggle it on and set your desired password. This is shown in the image below with detailed steps covered in Set password protection on linkο»Ώ.

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Link Expiration

CloudFiles allows you to set an expiry setting on the files you upload into your CloudFiles content library. Even your files uploaded from other storages such as dropbox / box / google drive / one drive etc.. can have link expiry settings.

You can pre-set your expiry settings based on both a specific date and time or the number of views. The more restrictive of the settings will apply if both are set. E.g. Using the date based expiry setting, the link will expire after the given date / time has passed. You can reset this setting to make the link offline / online anytime. The steps for setting this are shown in the GIF below.

You can check detailed instructions in our article on Link Expiry based on date & viewsο»Ώ.

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Email Collection (Soft Gated Link)

With soft-validation, your client will need to enter an email address to access the file. Please note that this email is not verified by CloudFiles (that's why the name soft-validation). If you require email verification, refer to the Hard Validation feature below.

The collected email is used in showing personalized analytics as well as for CRM contact mapping and automations. The information can also be collected in a GDPR compliant way by showing a consent checkbox before the collection. The graphic below shows how to add email collection to your links.

You can learn more about this feature in the article on Email Collection & Authenticationο»Ώ.

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An email wall as shown below is used to collect the email of the viewer. This wall has a lot of features that will become more evident in the sections below.

Email Authentication (Hard Gated Link)

With hard-validation, your client will need to enter and verify an email address to access the file. Verification can be done in a number of ways. Client can either login through Google or Microsoft account or they can get a one-time verification code on their email.

Email verification can be enabled using the checkbox shown in the GIF for the section above. Once enabled, viewers will be shown the same email wall as shown above. They can either login through Google / Outlook to provide a verified email or enter an email in the textbox and verify it through an OTP as shown below.

You can learn more about this feature in the article on Email Collection & Authenticationο»Ώ.

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Restrict Access to List of Emails / Domains

Email collection & authentication is a great way to ensure that your files reach the right hands. With email access control you can create aΒ list of email ids, that can or cannot access your documents.Β Along with this you can also block access to email ids from viewing your document. This applies equally well to complete domains as well. This support article on Email & Domain Access Controlο»Ώ shows how to enter a list of emails / domains while setting ID Validation.

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