Transferring data safely

Transcription

1 Transferring data safely Secure drop-box users guide INTRODUCTION You ve been registered to make use of a secure web-based drop-box in order to safely exchange data across the Internet between yourself and the administrator(s) of the box. This drop-box system is provided by Public Health England and is based upon a system used for many years by the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System. The software enables you to use Internet Explorer or any other web browser to send and receive files containing potentially sensitive information without significant risk of interception en route. This short guide is designed to introduce you to the system. HOW IT WORKS When you open the web link provided to gain access to your box, an encrypted Internet connection is set up between your PC and the drop-box server. This provides the same level of security as used by Internet banking, for example. You will need to log in with your address and the password provided. If you forget your password you can enter your address and click on the forgotten password link to have a new one sent to you. You must agree to the terms and conditions of use before continuing. You need only do this the first time you log in. Please read these carefully. You can always review them by clicking on the link at the bottom of each page. Once logged in, you can view and fetch (download) files that have been sent to you by the drop-box administrator(s), and send (upload) files to be collected by them. PHE Drop box user s guide Page 1

2 You can also use the My Account screen to change your name and address or request a new password. Because your address is very important for the operation of the system you should always be careful if changing it. Your files are safely stored on our secure server until deleted by yourself or the drop-box administrator(s). UPLOADING A FILE When you need to send a file to your drop-box administrator(s), click on the Upload item on the menu bar at the top of the screen: This will open up the Upload a file... window. First you need to select the file you want to send. You do this by clicking on the Browse... button and finding the file on your PC or local shared file system. Once you click Open you will return to the page and your file s name and location will appear to the left of the Browse... button. You can enter any other information you d like the administrators to have regarding the file in the text box provided. Then all you need to do is click Send file. Depending upon how fast (or busy) your Internet connection is and the size of your file it may take a while for it to be delivered. Remember that most Internet connections have much faster download speeds than upload. You can keep track of the upload by checking the progress bar on your browser. Please note that if you click on something else on the web page while your file is being transferred you will cancel the transfer. You needn t worry that your session with the drop-box will be timed out while a file is en route. It won t. If your transfer seems to be stuck you can start it again with the Send file button. Click OK if you are asked to confirm your choice. Once your file has been transferred the drop-box administrator(s) will be automatically sent an to tell them you ve sent it. You will see a message on the page to tell you that your file was safely received. If you accidentally send the wrong file you should delete it immediately. PHE Drop box user s guide Page 2

3 You should be aware that in order to maintain an audit trail of activity on the drop-box, all file movements are recorded. There are strict conditions on the kinds of file that can be sent to the box. Please check the Terms & Conditions page for details. There is also a limit on the size of file you can send. This is currently set at 500MB. DOWNLOADING A FILE If you are sent a file by your drop-box administrator(s) you will automatically receive an to tell you about it. They may also contact you directly. To collect your file you should click on the Drop Box files menu tag. This will open the Your Files page which will show you: New files which you haven t yet downloaded Older files which you have downloaded but which are still in the drop-box Files you previously sent and which haven t yet been deleted by the administrator(s) The files that have been sent to you will be underlined in blue. You can click on the name of a file and your browser will begin to securely download it. You may be asked whether you want to open the file or save it. In most cases you will probably want to save it. If you do choose to save, you ll be asked where you want it to go. Your organisation may well have policies in place about the storage of confidential information. If so, you should take care to save the file in an appropriate place (probably NOT in your My Documents folder!) The speed of the download will depend upon your Internet connection and the size of the file. Please note that if you click on something else on the web page while your file is being transferred you will cancel the transfer. You needn t worry that your session with the drop-box will be timed out while a file is en route. It won t. If your transfer seems to be stuck you can start it again by clicking on the name of the file you want. CHANGING YOUR DETAILS If you need to change the details held on the system you can do so easily by clicking the Your Account tab. PHE Drop box user s guide Page 3

4 On this page you can change your details, alter your address, or set a new password. Many users have access to more than one drop box. If you are one of these, changing your address or password will change your login to all of the boxes. Important note about addresses: Your address is how the system keeps in touch with you about files that have been sent to you and is how the system sends you a new password. If you enter the wrong address you will effectively be cut off from the dropbox. It s nearly always advisable that you copy your new address from an authoritative source and paste it into the form. TROUBLESHOOTING If you are having problems with the drop-box you should contact your box s administrator(s) in the first instance. Contact details appear at the bottom of each page. In rare cases you may get a pink screen error telling you that something has gone wrong with the web site. In this case you need do nothing. A detailed diagnostic message will have been sent to the system managers and we ll make every effort to fix the problem as soon as possible. We may get in touch with you to ask for details about the circumstances of the crash to help us to diagnose the problem. SAFEGUARDS Files transferred to your drop-box are stored upon a secure server managed by Public Health England. We take great care to comply with requisite Information Governance standards and legislation. Although we have to have access to the file storage area for the purposes of support and system administration we re careful not to access the contents of any transferred files. Please see the Terms and Conditions page for more details. PHE Drop box user s guide Page 4

5 The drop-box can only be accessed using an encrypted network connection. The web address begins with https: and your browser will show a padlock symbol which can be clicked to view the certifying authority s certificate. The system places a cookie in your web browser containing an authentication token for your session. If there is no activity on the system for 20 minutes the token becomes invalid and the session is closed. This will not occur during an upload or download. To maintain security you should take care to ensure that no-one else has access to your password. If you believe it has been compromised you should immediately request a replacement, either using the Forgotten password link on the log in page or the Request new password tick-box on the My account page. Your web browser may well offer to store your username and password when you first log in. It is safe to allow this only 1. if your computer is not shared with anyone else and you have to log in to be able to use the computer 2. or you work for an organisation which uses a network log in system If in doubt you should contact your organisation s IT department. When you have finished using the drop-box you should always log out. PHE Drop box user s guide Page 5