For anyone who needs to send confidential information securely, Transmit Private is an up-and-coming solution. Its many applications include inventors, artists collaborating on film/music edits across the globe, attorney-client communications, and financial planners’ exchanges with their clients, banking or contract negotiations, transmission of medical records, and so much more…
What is It & How is It Different?
As its name suggests, Transmit Private (www.transmitprivate.com) is a way to send files with a high degree of security over email, rather than to store data for remote access. Transmit Private focuses on:
- How to send documents electronically so that the probability of them being viewed by anyone other than the intended recipient is minute.
- How the sender and the recipient know immediately if the file has been compromised.
Tools such as Dropbox and Google Drive are cloud-based repositories which enable online storing of documents and file sharing. The risk of these tools is that the files exist on multiple redundant servers and can remain indefinitely on the “net.” For highly sensitive documents this leaves numerous risks and the enviable scenario that sensitive documents fall into the wrong hands…
Transmit Private is different from the cloud-based repositories, because it is a means to communicate sensitive information securely, rather than to store data for remote access.
Transmit Private Advantages:
1) Sending Files Securely Over Existing Email Servers
Transmit Private has the ability to send files securely and privately across the net. The sender will upload a file to Transmit Private’s hardened server and create a download link. The sender emails the link to the recipient. The email appears to come from the primary email address designated by the sender from any service ( usually one familiar to the recipient ). Once the recipient downloads the file, Transmit Private disables the download link so that the file can no longer be accessed. The sender can then delete the file from the Transmit Private server.
Notice, the file never travels across the sender’s or recipients email server. This means that there is no way for that file to be stored on email carrier’s servers. Since only a link is sent, the contents of the file cannot be viewed by a hacker without them actually clicking on the link. If this does happen, the recipient will notice the download link is disabled (aka. someone else has accessed the link before them) compromising the file. The sender can then check the logs to see who viewed the file.
2) Enhanced Confidentiality
Transmit Private provides enhanced confidentiality to sending the file by adding Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Transmit Private will generate a separate password that can be sent to the recipient’s cell phone. The recipient needs both the download link and the password to download the file. With this extra level of protection, even if the recipient’s computer is hacked or being monitored, the file cannot be retrieved without simultaneously accessing the cellphone that contains the password.
3) Large Attachments Capability
The third advantage of Transmit Private is its ability to send large files securely; up to two GB, at one time. This enables graphic designers, artist, video editors, to send rich media, including large graphic files and video, securely without concern of the information falling into the wrong hands.
4) Encrypted Secure File Storage
A not so widely known benefit of Transmit Private is that the files are stored on a hardened dedicated server with NO redundant backup of this server. This means unlike cloud-base storage repositories, there is only one copy of a file at any given time.
Why Transmit Private
The Wright1 team had the opportunity to meet with Transmit Private Principal, Mr. Rogel Patawaran, and asked why create such an amazing tool at such a great price? According to Mr. Patawaran, he felt a need to provide a way for people and companies to leverage the benefits of the internet without all the risks. He saw so many people playing “Russian-roulette” with highly sensitive data and wanted to share a simple inexpensive way for them to securely send files to the intended recipient. Transmit Private was developed in the United States, and all operations associated with the product are conducted within the country without off-shoring.
Free! Can’t Beat That Price
Transmit Private offers users’ four levels of pricing from free accounts to enterprise accounts. Below is the product pricing from the Transmit Private site as of Dec 2014: 
A Few Limitations
Transmit Private does have a few limitations: You can send only one file at a time to one recipient. The action must be repeated to send the file to additional recipients and multiple files will need to be zipped in order to send them at once. The system also adds information to the end of any file name so that the recipient and the system can recognize it as a valid un-tampered with file. The look and feel of Transmit Private is stark and functional.
Summing It All Up
After evaluating the product ourselves and talking with some of our security conscious clients who are using Transmit Private, Wright1 believes that the confidentiality, privacy, file-size, and security benefits outweigh the current limitations.
Having met with the leadership team of Transmit Private, we know that excellent new features are on the horizon that will enhance the overall user experience. Thus, Wright1 considers Transmit Private to be a cost-effective solution for securely communicating files across the net and an excellent up and coming product.
References
- Patawaran, R. (interview). (2014). Transmit Private Interview.(Verbal interview)
- Transmit Private. (2014). [Retrieved] 2014, [from] https://www.transmitprivate.com/