Asaf Cidon CEO and Co-founder Sookasa

Sookasa, Inc., an innovator in compliance for popular cloud applications and mobile devices, has introduced Sookasa Cloud Compliance Service, the industry’s first Compliance as a Service solution that radically simplifies the protection of sensitive files across popular cloud services and mobile devices.  Sookasa enables professionals to natively use their favorite cloud services, such as Dropbox and Gmail, and mobile devices, while transparently encrypting sensitive data and addressing regulations such as HIPAA and FERPA.

Cloud services such as Dropbox, Box and Gmail scatter and duplicate files across multiple devices and shared folders.  This creates a significant challenge in regulated industries such as healthcare, education, legal and finance because the loss of a single device that is connected to a cloud account can cause a catastrophic data breach and significant legal liability.  Current encryption solutions require heavy IT resources, restrict user freedom and significantly hurt user experience, and are therefore not suitable for smaller agile businesses.

With today’s launch, for the first time, organizations have a self-service turnkey encryption and compliance solution that enables their employees to safely use their favorite mobile devices and cloud services.  With Sookasa, files are encrypted anywhere they are placed, including on the cloud, mobile devices and desktops, and remain encrypted even when shared externally.  Sookasa controls and audits file accesses across devices and users according to HIPAA and FERPA standards.  After a quick installation process, Sookasa users enjoy the natural user experience of their favorite cloud services without ever noticing their files are being encrypted and decrypted in the background.

“Sookasa is challenging the traditional security notion that you have to trade usability for security by offering compliance ready, on-demand, enterprise-grade data encryption, access control, and tracking to users in any business vertical using the native application interface and experience,” said David Monahan, Research Director, Security and Risk Management at Enterprise Management Associates.  “Businesses of any size can easily support even external data sharing at an affordable cost with minimal setup and maintenance.  The accelerating Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) trend is expanding data leak and breach challenges, since sensitive data is being shared across a plethora of cloud-connected devices on a massive scale.  Sookasa’s technology of centralized access control and distributed encryption uniquely positions it to address many of these fundamental security challenges.”

With this introduction, Sookasa also announced its formal company launch and latest round of funding led by Accel Partners. 

“The combination of Dropbox and Sookasa allows us to take advantage of the unlimited space provided by Dropbox and the HIPAA compliance provided by Sookasa,” said Son Han, Director of Accounting and Compliance at KIPP Houston Public Schools.  “Sookasa’s ease-of-use impressed us, and we wanted something that could easily and seamlessly integrate into Dropbox.  We moved to Dropbox because of its user friendliness and Sookasa offers that same benefit.  We have employees of varying ranges of technical expertise so we wanted a HIPAA compliant tool that anyone could use.  Sookasa will enable us to utilize cloud storage to allow all employees of KIPP Houston to access our data from anywhere, on any device, universally synchronized, that is HIPAA compliant.  This ability makes KIPP more efficient through cutting-edge technology.”

According to the Department of Healthcare and Human Services, most HIPAA breaches are due to lost or stolen devices and media containing Protected Health Information (PHI).  The increased popularity of file sharing services such as Dropbox and Box combined with the explosion of mobile devices create significant new security challenges, since file sharing services synchronize thousands of files containing private information onto a large number of mobile devices and desktops.  This has created a compliance time bomb that is affecting millions of businesses.  Sookasa is the first solution that effectively prevents these breaches and enables any business to use the new generation of cloud services and remain HIPAA and FERPA compliant.  Sookasa’s Cloud Compliance Service has undergone extensive security and HIPAA audits by Praetorian, a leading security audit firm, which substantiated that Sookasa satisfies all HIPAA technical safeguard requirements.

“Dropbox was a perfect solution for Engaged Health Solutions’ staff of coaches and engagement managers that need to access and share personal healthcare information in remote locations on-the-go,” said Nelson Bowers, Director of Operations, Engaged Health Solutions.  “Sookasa allows us to use Dropbox while maintaining our HIPAA compliance.  Sookasa has been very reliable and seamless.  I like Sookasa because it is transparent to the user, and this is important because our staff greatly appreciates easy, non-intrusive software.  Sookasa allows us to use Dropbox for all of its great features while reducing our concerns about security and compliance.”

Sookasa provides a complete compliance “shield” around files by encrypting the files with bank-grade AES 256-bit encryption and using patent pending cloud-based key management to restrict access to authorized employees and partners.  Through the Sookasa dashboard, businesses can effortlessly control and audit access to their sensitive data across users, devices and files.  In addition, administrators can revoke access in real-time to any user or device.  As a result, even if an employee loses a device or mistakenly shares data with an unauthorized third party, the data is always protected since it remains encrypted.  Sookasa hides the file encryption and auditing from end-users, who continue to work using their natural desktop or mobile interface.

“We are launching Sookasa’s Compliance as a Service to democratize compliance for any business, without interfering with the superior user experience offered by cloud services such as Dropbox and Gmail,” said Asaf Cidon, Sookasa CEO and co-founder.  “Sookasa is unique because it combines cutting-edge security technology with consumer-level user experience and ease-of-use.”

Availability and Pricing
Sookasa’s compliance package is offered at $10 per month per person or $100 per year per person, including a free 30-day trial.  Volume discounts apply.  Sookasa also offers a free personal security plan that provides encryption without centralized administration and compliance. 

About Sookasa
Sookasa is the industry’s first Compliance as a Service™ that transparently protects files across popular cloud services and mobile devices.  Sookasa enables professionals to use their favorite cloud services, such as Dropbox and Gmail, and mobile devices, while transparently encrypting sensitive data and addressing regulations such as HIPAA and FERPA.  The company is led by a team of academics, serial entrepreneurs and seasoned security veterans.  Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., Sookasa is backed by Accel Partners and other top-tier investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital.