Digital Integrity

File Tampering

Digital and electronic files can be manipulated and tampered with. This is true no matter whether the file is a word processing document, a presentation, a spreadsheet, or a video recording, a voice recording, an Email, SMS or CAD and CAM files. Any digital and electronic file can be manipulated.

Detecting tampering can be extremely difficult, time consuming and, in many cases, effort will have been wasted in conducting a file-to-master comparison when no tampering has actually taken place.

For many, future decisions may depend on irrefutably establishing whether a file has been tampered with or not.

Digital Integrity

A number of companies now offer tools which are intended to combat the issues associated with digital and electronic file tampering. The majority of these suffer from drawbacks that are not initially apparent to users.

In 2012 CyberVector acquired TruSeal™ which is a digital integrity application that has secured a CESG CCTM accreditation. Backed by a number of patents, this is the only digital integrity capability currently available that avoids the flaws that exist in other products.

Open Trust

Digital integrity enables Open Trust to take place. Unlike the traditional Circles of Trust model, there is no requirement for trust between parties.

For example, consider a Circle of Trust involving three people; A, B and C. A sends B an encrypted file for which they share a key. B opens the file, manipulates it, and sends it to C using their shared key. Because A and C trust B, there is no way that they will know that the file has been tampered with. The Circle of Trust has been broken.

TruSeal does not require a Circle of Trust and its use in this situation would enable C to know that the file from A had been manipulated.

TruSeal™

A software quality improvement plan is currently under way which will result in four products that will be available later this year. These products are;

TruSeal Small Business Service - designed for organisations of up to 50 people,
TruSeal Business Service - for organisations of up to 1000 people,
TruSeal Enterprise Service - for bigger organisations, and
TruSeal Solo - for an individual.

The software is aligned to the Microsoft™ Server product route map and end of life cycles. It is easy to install, trivial to maintain, cheap and scaleable. More information is on the Product Site.