Dabra Secure Email Network

Dabra Version History

Dabra 3.0.1 beta

Not yet released

Microsoft .Net Framework

Dabra is now built using Microsoft's .Net Framework version 1.1 which provides better reliability, performance, and capabilities.

Address Book

Dabra automatically builds an address book from the list of people that you place on your trust list. On the compose form (Dabra for Windows) the To..., CC…, and BCC… buttons are clickable and will open up the address book window. From there the user can select who they want to send the message to.

Built in Compression of Messages

All Dabra message are now compressed as part of the encryption process. This yields much smaller messages overall.

Foreign Language Support

Dabra now supports foreign language characters in both the message content and attachment names.

Mandatory Registration Passwords

During registration (and when an administrator adds a new user) the registration password field is now mandatory. This adds further protection for the user since it prevents an attacker from being able to impersonate the user if the activation email is intercepted.

Key Backup and Restore Procedure

To ensure that users do perform a backup (and are aware of the implications of not having one) the backup keys screen will automatically be invoked after an account has been activated on the user’s computer. The user will be instructed to store this file on a physical device such as a USB drive or a floppy drive.

Dabra 2.1.2

Released March 13th, 2006

Internet Connection Troubleshooter

In the event that Dabra cannot contact the Dabra web service it will now present the user with a connection troubleshooter. The troubleshooter offers guidance on how to fix typical connectivity problems.

Expanded Proxy Support

Expanding on the existing proxy support Dabra now allows manual proxy configuration including support for proxy authentication.

Dabra 2.1.0

Released December 13th, 2005

Multiple Dabra Accounts

If more than one email account is configured on your computer you can now activate all of them as Dabra accounts as well. Doing so will ensure that you will be able to read a Dabra secure email regardless of which email address the sender used to send it.

Every account that you wish to activate will require an activation key. You can either register a completely new account or, if you are corporate subscriber, add a new user to your Dabra account.

Trust and Block Lists

As of this version of Dabra, the first time you receive a Dabra email from another Dabra member you will be asked if this is a person that you recognize, and if so whether or not you want to trust this person. To help make this decision easier details about the sender will be presented to you, such as their full name and the company that they work for. This information screen will also show how many other people trust this individual and how many have decided to block him/her.

Messages from people that you place on your trust list will be accepted by Dabra and decrypted normally. If you place someone on your block list the person who owns this Dabra account will no longer be able to send you Dabra secure email.

A person who is on your block list will be prevented from sending you messages when they click Dabra Send Secure. Unlike regular email, the person is blocked when attempting the send the message, not moved to a junk mail folder on your computer.

Two-Factor Authentication at Registration

Version 2.1 of Dabra now provides two-factor authentication at the time of registration. The two components of two-factor authentication are:

Something you know
Something you have

Dabra will now request a password when you register a new Dabra account. This provides the something you know component.

Once registered you will receive an email from the Dabra service which will provide you with your activation key that you must use when you activate Dabra. This provides the something you have component.

If someone were to intercept the registration email they would not be able to activate as you since the email does not include the password that you provided. To activate you require both the password and the activation key.

Better User Management (Corporate Subscribers)

It is now a lot easier to see which email accounts you have associated to your corporate account. The new user management screen allows an administrator to search for user accounts, add new accounts, and delete them.

Better Attachment Management (Non-Outlook users)

When using Dabra to compose your secure messages you now have a new screen that you can use to attach files to the message. This enhanced screen makes it easier to see exactly what you have attached to your message.

When using Dabra to receive your secure messages the enhanced attachment management screen makes it easier to open and save your attachments.

Outlook Plug-in Changes

Dabra 2.1 continues to refine the integration with Microsoft Outlook by implementing the following changes:

New verification screen that details which portions of the message have been changed.
Dabra messages no longer show an extra attachment (named security.dabra_key) on your messages.
Dabra launches the activation process if the user is using Outlook and their environment is not activated.
And many more refinements to make Dabra work as seamlessly as possible.

Support for Corporate Content Inspection (Corporate Subscribers)

Corporate subscribers that require that all inbound and outbound mail conform to corporate policies can now integrate Dabra with their content inspection servers. To implement this feature a formal written request must be made to Obvious Solutions.

A disclaimer will be included on the Dabra manifest for all email that is sent from, or sent to, a corporate subscriber that has implemented content inspection.