Watermarking: The smarter way to protect your files

Product specs. Offer letters. Investor presentations. When you’re sharing sensitive content, you need a secure, frictionless way to do so. With watermarking, you can rest assured that what happens in Box, stays in Box.

What is watermarking?

It’s a security feature that helps prevent data leaks and unauthorized re-sharing of sensitive information in your Box account. When you turn on watermarking for a file, Box places a semi-transparent overlay of the current viewer’s email address or IP address over the contents of the file. It also shows the time of access. If someone tries to leak a file or share it without permission, the watermark — with all their user details — will be shared with it. So you can keep everyone accountable, without slowing work down.

The original rasterizing process works by modifying the pixels of the original document. It lets you lock down a file by not allowing any text to be copied, searched, or linked.

Introducing new vector-based watermarking

 We’ve taken this process a step further to protect your content , and we’re excited to introduce new vector-based watermarking. This multi-layered approach offers:  

• Infinite resolution so large files and images stay readable at any size
• Searchable text and clickable links
• Smaller file size

This update gives our customers even more control when watermarking. (We also use it at Box!) Here are just a few examples: 1) Designers can add watermarks to origin files and other assets before sharing them with external agencies without compromising viewability; 2) In research and development, health dossiers that may include PII and other clinical data can be watermarked and include links to additional documentation; 3) Here at Box, the product team watermarks roadmap planning and strategy documents before sharing them out. And who doesn’t want all this rich content in a small file size? In short, there’s so much you can do with watermarking.

No matter your industry, protecting the flow of information is a top priority — and security is built into our DNA. Vector-based watermarking makes it easier than ever to secure your most valuable information in the Content Cloud.

Watermarking is available for Enterprise Box accounts. You must be an owner, co-owner, or editor of a file or folder to set and remove a watermark.