Control of Versions and Integrity of Protonized Files

As of Prot-On v3, the document signature (hash summary) is stored with each activity event, this allows to control different versions of the document, as well as it provides an irrefutable proof about the content accessed from any user.

Until now, Prot-On provided no visibility into accessing different versions of the same protected file. Once a file is protected, it can evolve in multiple versions.
From Prot-On v3, every event using protected files will include a digital signature of the protected file that will provided the following benefits:

  • Identification and follow-up of different file versions
  • Digital evidence of file integrity
  • Protection against reverse engineering attacks

File version follow-up

The identification of the file in the activity log will tell us which version each user is accessing, and we can view the version tree or disable versions that we consider invalid or obsolete, so that the user that accesses them knows that he is not working with the most updated version of the file.

Digital evidence of file integrity

This control on the file version also provides irrefutable evidence of the use of specific contents (opening file, editing, printing…).

Protection against reverse engineering attacks

This functionality also reinforces the security of Prot-On, because if someone attempts to open a file that has been tampered by mean of reverse engineering, the server will detect that it is an unrecognized version and will not allow the file to be opened. This allows Prot-On to be protected against attacks such as that directed to break the Microsoft AD RMS solution, carried out by researchers of the Horst Görtz Institute, of the Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany. This attack allows a user with read-only permissions to modify the contents of a protected file without leaving an evidence to the owner of the information.