File Security Options

Setting file security options

Omniscope files are not only more compact and communicative than other types of data files (e.g. spreadsheet files), they also have many more layers of security options to prevent unauthorised access and re-use of the data within the files. Most of these options are access from the File > Save as menu, with the exception of text scrambling, which will eventually be column-specific, and 'walled gardens', which are implemented via special groups of activation keys.

File security options available under the File > Save as > IOK tab { Save as Visokio Omniscope publishable .IOK file} are shown at right under the Security heading:

Password protect files

Tick 'password protect' and enter a password to protect the file. If you have set a password, the Change option will let you change it periodically.

Prevent data save/export

This copy-protection feature prevents even cut-and-paste copying from Omniscope, as well as saving or exporting the data in any way.

Time limited files

This option can be used to ensure that stale un-refreshed copies of files are not used, and to limit the distribution of the files to those with an immediate need for access. Ticking this option displays a settings dialog which enables you to specify the exact date/time the file will expire, whether or not an external Internet time-check will be required (if so, the file will not work offline), an option to show an "out-of-date please refresh" notice and allow access, and the message to display on trying to open an expired file. 

Domain Locking (Enterprise Edition only)

Domain locking is a powerful and effective access-restriction and revenue protection feature. Omniscope .IOK/.IOM files are normally free-standing and easily transferred (by e-mail, posting/downloading from blogs and websites, etc.). Adding domain-locking to an .IOK/.IOM file imposes the restriction that the file must be opened directly from the originating (generally password-protected and secure) website. This option enables organisations to restrict access to current employees with valid web credentials, and enables commercial data publishers to ensure that only current subscribers have access to their data, and ensures that potentially stale, unrefreshed copies of files saved locally will not open. More information on Using domain locking.

'Walled gardens' (Enterprise Edition only)

The option to designate a group of specific Omniscope installations able to create and share files only within the group is referred to as a 'walled garden'. Those Omniscope installations with are members of the group are defined by specifically-created activation keys. Files created by installations within in 'walled gardens' can be set to open only in other Omniscope installations activated by keys from the same 'walled garden' list. Privileges for each installation can be set individually to Read-only or Read/Write/Create capabilities for 'walled garden' and non-'walled-garden' .IOK files. Installations can belong to more than one 'walled garden', with different privileges in each 'walled garden'. For more information on implementing Omniscope in high-security settings, please contact us.

Text Scrambling (new in version 2.5)

Introduced in version 2.5, this feature permits text column values to be 'scrambled' such that the text values cannot be read.  This security feature will be further developed.

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