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BoxingClever Frequently Asked Questions

Using BoxingClever

How It Works

Technical Issues

Using BoxingClever


I don't have a webserver. How can I send files?

You can't. To send files you must have a webserver you can access via FTP.

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What's the maximum file size supported by BoxingClever?

The maximum file size depends on your webserver, but it's usually 4GB. In practice you're limited by the amount of free storage space on your webserver. For example, if you had 50MB of free storage on your webserver, you could send one 50MB file or five 10MB files.

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I canceled my BoxingClever InBox download or it timed out. Can I resume it?

Yes, just drag-and-drop the CleverKey on to the InBox window again and you'll be asked if you want to resume your download.

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Where does BoxingClever InBox download files to?

InBox downloads files to your Desktop.

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What's a CleverKey?

A CleverKey is a file that contains instructions on how to download and decrypt a file from a webserver. A CleverKey contains the URL to download the file from, the name of the file that's being downloaded, information on how to decrypt the file, and a unique digital fingerprint that's used to verify the integrity of the downloaded file. CleverKeys have a default file extension of ".cky".

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What's a Box?

A Box is an encrypted file that's stored on a webserver. Boxes are generated and stored using OutBox and retrieved using InBox, and have a default file extension of ".box".

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How It Works


Box files sit on a publicly accessible webserver. Doesn't that mean that anyone can download them?

Assuming they know the URL of a Box file, there's nothing stopping someone from downloading it. However, they would have downloaded a file that's encrypted using 256-bit AES (US "Top Secret" level) encryption, which means the it's unreadable and unusable without first being decrypted. Without a CleverKey to unlock the Box file, its contents are nonsensical, and therefore useless to anyone who downloads it.

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What's to stop a third party from replacing a Box file with another file?

Each CleverKey stores a unique digital fingerprint of the Box file, in the form of a 256-bit SHA hash. Once the file has been downloaded, BoxingClever checks the digital fingerprint of the file against the digital fingerprint stored in the CleverKey, and refuses to decrypt the file if the two don't match up.

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What's encryption, and what kind of encryption does BoxingClever use?

Encryption is the process of obscuring information to make it unreadable without special knowledge. One type of encryption is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), an encryption standard used by the US government. BoxingClever uses 256-bit AES encryption to encrypt and decrypt files, the same strength of encryption that the US government uses to protect "Top Secret" classified information.

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What's a hash function, and what kind of hash function does BoxingClever use?

A hash function produces a unique "digital fingerprint" of information. The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a hash function that was developed by the National Security Agency and is a US government standard. BoxingClever uses a 256-bit SHA hash function to generate the digital fingerprint of each Box file.

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Technical Issues


I can't download files using BoxingClever InBox.

InBox uses the same network settings as Internet Explorer, so first make sure that you can still connect to the internet using Internet Explorer. If your internet connection is working, check with the person who sent the CleverKey that the file is still on their webserver. If you're still having problems downloading the Box file, please submit a support request.

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I can't upload files using BoxingClever OutBox.

OutBox uses the same network settings as Internet Explorer, so first make sure that you can still connect to the internet using Internet Explorer. If your internet connection is working, check that you can manually login to your webserver via FTP, and that you have enough space left on the server to store the file. If you're still having problems downloading the Box file, please submit a support request.

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My upload or download keeps timing out.

First check that you can still download or upload entire files using Internet Explorer. If you're still having problems downloading or uploading the file, please submit a support request.

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I can't send an email using BoxingClever OutBox.

OutBox uses the default "mailto:" email application. Check that an email dialog still opens up when you click an "mailto:" link such as mailto:null@otakusoftware.com. If this does not work, you will need to setup your email application to work with the "mailto:" link. Details on how to do this can be found in your email application help documentation. If you're still unable to send emails using OutBox, you can either manually email the CleverKey or submit a support request.

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I can't drag-and-drop an email on to BoxingClever InBox.

Your email application must support OLE drag and drop. If it doesn't, save the email to a file and then drag-and-drop that file on to the InBox window.

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