Sharing Data Securely at Stony Brook

Whether remote or in the office, keeping sensitive data secure should be of paramount importance to everyone here at Stony Brook. Here, find helpful links and guides concerning how to properly secure data before it's shared.

• Azure Information Protection

  Azure Information Protection for Microsoft Office
  

  Azure Information Protection (AIP) is an add-on for Microsoft Office that allows for documents to be encrypted and restricted before you share them. With AIP, you can restrict viewing, modifying, or even printing of protected documents to certain users. This protection can even traverse organizations: if you are sending to an external organization, and they are also using Office 365 or Azure Active Directory, you can restrict to those users as well.
  

  https://it.stonybrook.edu/services/azure-information-protection-aip

• Gmail Confidential Mode

  Confidential Mode for Gmail
  

  Google now offers a "Confidential Mode" in Gmail, allowing you to restrict options such as forwarding or printing on emails sent from your Stony Brook account. Emails can also be given expiration dates or revocation options.
  

  https://it.stonybrook.edu/services/google-apps/mail

• Securing PDF Files with Adobe Acrobat

  Securing PDF Files with Adobe Acrobat

  PDF files can be encrypted and password protected, so that only a designated user may open them. Adobe provides instructions here, but ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat X or higher installed (not Adobe Reader).

   

  If you set a password on a PDF file, ensure you do not include the password in the initial transmission of the file. It is best to share the password "out of band," using a method different than what you used to share the file. A phone call works best when the password is needed urgently.
• Sharing Passwords

  Sharing Passwords with LastPass
  

  While sharing passwords is generally not advisable, there are some situations where this cannot be avoided, such as a shared service or device in which more than one person needs access, or legacy software which does not allow for an adequate amount of individual user accounts.

   

  Stony Brook University offers LastPass Enterprise as a secure and sanctioned solution for sharing passwords safely. To request an account, click here or contact the Service Desk directly.