FileMaker 13 Adds Major Security Enhancements

Talking security is boring, but force yourself to read Steven Blackwell’s latest on the updates in FileMaker 13.  You won’t regret it.

FileMaker, Inc. today released the latest version of its Platform: FileMaker® Pro 13, FileMaker® Pro 13 Advanced, FileMaker® Server 13, and FileMaker® GO 13.

This release brings many significant new features to the platform including the innovative FileMaker WebDirect™ client access. But to me the most significant enhancement is Encryption of Data at Rest (EAR). Addition of this critical and key functionality completes the FileMaker Platform Security Suite:

Identity and Access Management

Role-Based Privileges

File Access Protection

Encryption of Data in Transit

Encryption of Data at Rest

More so than ever in the past, today many different Threat Agents relentlessly attack an organization’s confidential and proprietary data and are eager to steal those data. Whether by direct attack on hosted databases, by unauthorized access to backups or other copies of database files, or by other attack vectors, these incursions place data at risk. This poses significant problems for organizations, significant business reputation damage, and significant legal liabilities.

With the introduction of the new version of the FileMaker Platform, developers, administrators, and end user clients or customers now have much stronger tools to protect their files and the data those files contain. But in order fully to benefit from this new feature, developers need to understand how it works and what it supposed to do.

 How does this work? Using FileMaker Pro 13 Advanced and its Developer Tools, developers or administrators may now introduce industry-standard AES-256 encryption onto FileMaker Pro files. Once FileMaker Server 13 hosts these files, then this encryption is transparent to the end user who will continue to access the files by Account Name and Password as previously.

Figure 1. Developer Tool option for file encryption.

This type of Encryption At Rest protects the physical file and its contents from a variety of attacks. As the name “At Rest” implies, this is basically when the file is closed or when an attack is directed at the physical file itself.

 Developers and administrators must recognize some significant considerations when employing the new EAR feature. Here are a number of them:

Newest Version of FileMaker Platform Brings Significant Major Security Enhancement – FMForums.

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