The new technology, announced by Disappearing Inc., works with any e-mail system to encrypt, authenticate, track and delete messages, including those stored on backup tapes or forwarded to third parties. By eliminating the permanent record of virtual conversations, says the company, they are making e-mail safe and more secure for business. The software will debut early next year. Our e-mail policy management system protects messages while they are in use, and then makes them expire whenever the company chooses. The software encrypts each message with a unique key to prevent unauthorized access.
Receivers then authenticate themselves in one of several ways before viewing a message.
There is a record of all access, and when a particular key is destroyed, the message becomes unreadable. When a message is deleted, all copies, including those stored on backup tapes or forwarded to third parties, become unreadable. This eliminates the liability created by casual comments archived permanently in e-mail. The software lets companies develop and implement policies that govern how long they want to retain different types of messages, according to the company. One example cited is that a public company might require that all messages related to Security and Exchange Commission compliance be archived permanently but that everything else is deleted after 90 days.