This file will self-destruct. Time sensitive files

techiemon · Jul 17, 2008

Is there any software in existance that is time sensitive? That means that once saved the file will unable to be opened after a cetain period of time?

Any software out there that can do this but compatible with adobe, Word, Excel, etc?

I have some files that I only want to be able to be opened for a period of time, if not then after a while they will not be able to open them ever, and I want this to be anonoymous and not to inform the user that this document is time sensitive.

Thanks

Krypto · Jul 17, 2008

techiemon said:
Is there any software in existance that is time sensitive? That means that once saved the file will unable to be opened after a cetain period of time?

Any software out there that can do this but compatible with adobe, Word, Excel, etc?

I have some files that I only want to be able to be opened for a period of time, if not then after a while they will not be able to open them ever, and I want this to be anonoymous and not to inform the user that this document is time sensitive.

Thanks

There are several auto delete applications out there that will wash specific files after a determined amount of time.

But as far as the mission impossible stuff....... you may have to get a hold of Jack Bauer :beer:

Hitbox · Jul 17, 2008

Do some research into creating DRM for your files.
But everyone will hate you thereafter.

techiemon · Jul 17, 2008

Can you give me some of the names of the autodelete applications you know of?

Why will people hate me? What is DRM? What will it do?

Hitbox · Jul 17, 2008

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is what apple uses on their files to make sure you cant share it with anyone else or any other device besides iPod.

IRM is a lot more targeted for what you need it for. This is from the wiki...

Enterprise digital rights management (E-DRM or ERM) is the application of DRM technology to the control of access to corporate documents such as Microsoft Word, PDF, and AutoCAD files, emails, and intranet web pages rather than to the control of consumer media.[28] E-DRM, now more commonly referenced as IRM (Information Rights Management), is generally intended to prevent the unauthorized use (such as industrial or corporate espionage or inadvertent release) of proprietary documents. IRM typically integrates with content management system software.

The tool: http://sourceforge.net/projects/irm/

And people wont really hate you. They just hated apple/sony for locking the music with DRM.

4GHZ_or_bust · Jul 18, 2008

Way back in the old day when computer virus was still new thing, there was an odd Macintosh virus that self destructed after certain date. Because of this, none should exist today unless you had a Mac with incorrectly set date.

dribblesnort · Jul 18, 2008

techiemon said:
Is there any software in existance that is time sensitive? That means that once saved the file will unable to be opened after a cetain period of time?

Any software out there that can do this but compatible with adobe, Word, Excel, etc?

I have some files that I only want to be able to be opened for a period of time, if not then after a while they will not be able to open them ever, and I want this to be anonoymous and not to inform the user that this document is time sensitive.

Thanks

Just wait for the new version of MS Office :beer:

On a serious note though, there are some programs out there that can be set to disable their filetypes after a while, but I am not sure why anyone would want that, personally

Anuj · Jan 24, 2010

Have a look at EDRM stuff

I think if you want the functionality that you want there is no way around a client download at the recipient's end. Have a look at EDRM products like MS-RMS ( though it will not work outside of MS OFfice docs ) or Seclore FileSecure ( www.seclore.com ) ..

Anuj

techiemon · Feb 23, 2010

Thanks guys I will have to find another solution then. But I will check out Anuj's info and see if that will help.

c627627 · Feb 28, 2010

What an intriguing and interesting question. Please let me know the results of your research.

Already existing apps do not have that functionality so you would think deletion of file using a third party method, rather than time-locking of it using its source app is the only theoretical option.

On the other hand, attempts at deletion would be detected and intercepted by (good) antivirus software... not to mention the legality of this

c627627 · Feb 28, 2010

Hey about this. You take an open source freeware program like, I don't know, AbiWord, and you adjust the code to include some sort of time sensitive password protection? :shrug:

Just brainstorming.

Brutal-Force · Mar 1, 2010

How does the software do it that disables itself after 30 days? Lots of Shareware does it.

techiemon · Mar 5, 2010

yeah I was thinking the same thing brutal-force. But I think that is about clock set, but if you set your pc clock back or forward it may interfere with the expiration date of the software... But I think many programers have figured out a way to avoid that. The problem is for applications you cannot code them further...

heynati · May 9, 2013

excuse me, is it possible to have a file and share it with someone for a limited amount of time?
say i send my mother a video, but after 3 days if she clicks the file she can’t see it, is this doable?

briansun1 · May 9, 2013

have you not been reading the thread?(@op I would look into how demo programs work [the timed ones] and see if you can get code from that....{also you live in taiwan?})

I.M.O.G. · May 9, 2013

heynati said:
excuse me, is it possible to have a file and share it with someone for a limited amount of time?
say i send my mother a video, but after 3 days if she clicks the file she can’t see it, is this doable?

For easy just sending file stuff, your answer is no.

It's possible, but not in the easy sense. You'd have to create or use some proprietary application, which packages the file in a secure way and limits how the file can be accessed, then whoever uses the file would also have to use that same application to view the packaged file.

I don't know of any software that exists to do this (one might be mentioned above, I didn't check anuj's link - but you should).

There are some insightful comments above, which reference some manners of doing stuff like this. Then also comments about DRM, and their implementation of DRM is how the MPAA and RIAA attempt to protect digital files. This is similar to what you would need to do to protect a file or give it a timeout thresh-hold.

If you really want to do it though, its going to take some work, and that may start with reading the insightful posts in this thread and seeing what you can find from there.

techiemon · May 9, 2013

Brian, I think that heynati is an SEO device and not a real person, no posts, and didn't read the threat, classic spam for marketers. And yes, I live in Taiwan. From your name, I wonder if you are Taiwanese living in Taiwan or the US?

In addition I ended up not needing the software, but have favorited the thread in case I need it in the future.

IMOG, Indeed many insightful comments, people here are great!

I.M.O.G. · May 9, 2013

techiemon said:
Brian, I think that heynati is an SEO device and not a real person, no posts, and didn't read the threat, classic spam for marketers.

I think that may be a little harsh as it looks like heynati is a real person. We do get a lot of spam we have to clean up so I could be wrong, however Heynati passes all our usual checks, and looks like a real person (clean IP, email, from Costa Rica which isn't a huge spam source, etc)... He probably just landed on this thread from google and decided to ask a question.

techiemon · May 10, 2013

IMOG, perhaps I was too rushed and slightly judgemental, however, having been on more than 100 forums I have seen these sorts of message far too often. However, this writing is about the topic, just didn't read the above posts perhaps. My bad.

petteyg359 · May 10, 2013

Easy solution, and I demand royalties if you implement it

Encrypt the message with a public RSA key. Write a wrapper that decrypts it with a private key, and then deletes the private key. The message is now irretrievable. Obviously breakable if some malware is installed that has permission to read other applications' memory areas and can copy the key, but secure enough for personal use.

@IMOG: That Anuj spam did somehow manage to survive for over three years, though

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