How does SecureSafe work?

SecureSafe is a highly secure online storage of your important documents and passwords. What is more, SecureSafe allows you to specify who is to be given access to which data, later on, as beneficiaries. Take the following steps to do this:

• Store your documents in the SecureSafe safe (upload), and enter the important user names / passwords.
• Specify who the beneficiaries are, that means the persons who are to receive data later on.
• Assign data to the beneficiaries. Who is to be given which documents and passwords.
• Print out what is referred to as the activation code. This is the code which will be used to start the data inheritance, built-in DataInherit-function.
• Designate one or more trusted persons, to whom you hand over the printed activation code.
• As a safety measure print out the recovery code. You will need this if you ever happen to forget the user name/password of your SecureSafe account. (SecureSafe has no access at all to the data or passwords, and cannot do anything for you without this recovery code should you no longer have any access).
• Turn on the data inheritance.

Is SecureSafe safe?

SecureSafe has made it top priority to ensure the maximum possible security and confidentiality of your data. SecureSafe itself is not able to view your data at any time. For further information about the security measures behind SecureSafe, please see Security.

Why is the SecureSafe available free of charge?

The business model of SecureSafe is "Freemium" (combination of Free and Premium). Although many of our users have a free SecureSafe account, customers can also purchase one of our premium packages if they would like to receive more functionality such as increased data storage etc. Essentially, we rely on paying customers, but we also offer a fully comprehensive highly secure basic service to customers who may eventually upgrade to one of our paid for accounts. Our customers can also keep their free account for life.

What is an activation code?

The activation code is a PDF document (usually printed out on a sheet of paper), which contains the 36-figure code. If someone enters this activation code on the SecureSafe homepage, this starts the data inheritance process. (If it is an erroneous activation the account holder can stop the data inheritance from taking place).

What is an Authorized Activator?

Authorized Activators are persons you trust, who are authorized to effect activation; they are those persons to whom you have handed an activation code. These Authorized Activators will then activate the data inheritance according to your wishes. You may designate one or more Authorized Activators. Entry of a single activation code is sufficient to start the data inheritance.

How many Authorized Activators do I need?

It can be one or several persons. You can also append the activation code to your will. Entry of a single activation code is sufficient to start the data inheritance.

What is the safeguarding delay time

The safeguarding delay time serves to prevent the data inheritance from happening without your consent. If one of the Authorized Activators enters the activation code, the safeguarding delay period starts running (e.g. 15 days). During this safeguarding delay period you will be contacted by SecureSafe by email and SMS. If it is an erroneous activation, you simply log in as usual to your SecureSafe account and stop the data inheritance. If the data inheritance has been stopped, confidentiality is guaranteed as before. No data or passwords will have left your data-safe and none of the beneficiaries will have been notified.

What is the recovery code?

The login recovery code allows you to gain access to your account even if you have, for example, forgotten your username or password. You will find detailed information under “Questions about resetting the account”.

Do I have to notify my beneficiaries that they will be receiving data from me in future?

No, you do not have to inform the Beneficiaries that they will be receiving data at a later date. You should, however, regularly check to see that you have entered the correct telephone numbers, email addresses, and also the correct place of residence.

Why do I have to enter my email address and my mobile number?

SecureSafe needs your email address to be able to

• contact you in case the data-inheritance process was activated by one of your trust-persons on your account
• send you and update email once or twice per year, where the new features are announced.

SecureSafe needs your mobile number to be able to

• contact you in case the data-inheritance process was activated by one of your trust-persons on your account
• send you authentication codes via text message (in case you chose the corresponding authentication method)

I’ve lost my password/my user name!

If you forgot your password, please follow the instructions under "How can I recover or reset my account if the password/user name has been forgotten?". If you have forgotten the username please contact support (at) SecureSafe.com, from the same email address that you have used when registering the account.

I have forgotten my password / my user name and I do not have any recovery code!

If you are no longer able to log in to SecureSafe, your recovery code is absolutely the only way you can access your account again. SecureSafe is unable to see any of your data or even password. For this reason it is also completely impossible for SecureSafe to help you to log in if you do not have the login details and you do not have the recovery code.

How does the login method with user name/password plus the additional SMS message work?

Besides the normal method of authentication with a user name/password, SecureSafe offers another variant, which provides even greater security. With this method, after entering the user name and password for logging in, a short SMS is sent to your mobile phone. You need this code in order to identify yourself. Even if someone finds out your user name and your password, he would not be able to get at your data because he does not have access to your mobile telephone. – If you select “My Account” in the top right-hand corner of the application, you can switch on this variant under the “Security” tab. Check that you have entered the correct mobile phone number incl. country code (e.g. +49).

I am not getting any SMS on my mobile phone and I am not able to log in!

If you do not receive an SMS this can be for one of several reasons:

• You have lost (or temporarily do not have access to) your phone
• You have chosen the normal log-in variant without additional SMS authentication.
• Wait for a while. Depending on the telephone provider and country it may take a bit longer for the SMS to arrive.
• You are in a region or a room where there is no signal reception. Check whether your mobile phone is receiving a signal.
• You have entered an incorrect mobile phone number.
• Try again to get a signal at another time later on or from a different location.

If you are no longer able to dial in despite trying several times from different locations, then you will have to reset your account using the recovery code in order to regain full access. Further information under “Questions About Resetting the Account”.

I don’t have any signal for my mobile, how can I log on to my account now?

If you have selected the variant with authentication by user name/password and SMS, and you have no reception on your mobile, then you have to try again to get a signal from another location or, if that does not work, reset your account by using the recovery code. Further information on this under “Questions About Resetting the Account”.

How do I change from just user name/password to the log-in by user name/password/SMS (and back again)?

In your SecureSafe account you will find at the top right-hand corner the “My Account” panel. Under the “Security” tab you can choose how you would like to log in.
Check to be sure that you have entered the correct mobile phone number incl. country code (e.g. +49).

How can I delete my account?

Account owners can delete their own account, by logging in, opening the "My Account" dialog, choosing the tab "My Account" and pressing the button "Delete Account". If you forgot your password, send an email to "support (at) SecureSafe.com" with a body text that requests the account deletion and mentions your username.

How can I upgrade my account?

Let us assume you want to upgrade your "Password Safe Free" account into a "Password Safe Premium" account. Login via PC / Mac on www.SecureSafe.com/mylogin to your current account. Then click on "My Account" (in the upper right corner) and select the tab "Upgrade". A dialog will appear that lets you choose the desired account type, click on the "Upgrade" button and you will be guided to the payment system. Please note that you have to click on the "upgrade" button before closing the whole dialog with "Save".

What can I do if I lost my mobile phone and want to login with strong authentication?

With the browser on your PC/Mac visit the website https://www.securesafe.com/recover and enter the recovery code. After the correct entry, the system will disable the 2 factor (text message based mTAN) authentication until you switch it on again manually in the security settings).

How can I sort the password entries?

By clicking into the table column headings you can sort the table alphabetically along the corresponding column. Further sorting/categorization mechanisms will follow in the near future. If you have further questions/suggestions please send an email to: support (at) SecureSafe.com

How can I import existing password lists?

Importing and exporting can currently be done on the web-interface that you access with the browser on your PC/Mac. The iPhone app does not yet support importing / exporting passwords.

Under the menu item "More Actions" you will find an item "Import passwords". Choose this menu item and a file-selection dialog will allow you to specify a file to import. The contents of the previously selected file is now shown in the preview table. Each row in the preview table represents a password entry to import. Adjust the import options until the preview contents looks correct. Arrange the rows to match them with the predefined header fields. It it important to select the right character-set otherwise special characters might be translated wrongly. At the moment SecureSafe supports the CSV (Comma Separated Values) text file that contains one password entry per row, fields are separated by a separator character (comma, semi-colon, tab).

How can I export all my passwords?

Importing and exporting can currently be done on the web-interface that you access with the browser on your PC/Mac. The iPhone app does not yet support importing / exporting passwords.

Under the menu item "More Actions" you will find an item "Export passwords". Choose this menu item and a new dialog will allow you to specify a the export format. At the moment SecureSafe supports the CSV (Comma Separated Values) text file that contains one password entry per row, fields are separated by a separator character (comma, semi-colon, tab). You can choose the separator character and you can choose how special characters shall be encoded. The CSV formatted file can then for example be imported into a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel) program for further manual processing.

How do I copy a document from my computer to SecureSafe (upload)?

Click on the “Upload” button and select the desired document from your PC. The document will be transferred in encoded form to the SecureSafe data-safe. Once it is there, you can move it to the right folder.

Can I copy several documents at the same time to SecureSafe (upload)?

Yes. You can quite easily select several documents at once, by using the Ctrl key (Windows), or Command key (MacOS). Alternatively, use the shift key for a group of documents, or Ctrl-A (Windows), or Command-A (MacOS), to select all the documents in a folder simultaneously.

How do I copy a whole folder from my computer to SecureSafe (upload)?

It is not possible to directly select whole folders because of a limitation in the operating system. You can, however, compress the desired folder as a ZIP file directly on your own operating system (generate a document with the extension “.zip”), and then upload this ZIP file. For example, in Windows, use the right mouse key / send to / compressed ZIP folder. The compression also has the added advantage of allowing a faster upload. After the upload, you can either leave the ZIP folder as it is in the SecureSafe safe, or unzip it and restore the original document/folder structure. In SecureSafe, select the ZIP folder, then right click on the mouse / extract all.

How do I put a document from my safe onto my computer (download)?

Either double-click the document, or select it and click on the “Download” button. If you select and download entire folders, then the entire contents are automatically zipped and downloaded to your PC as a single compressed document with the extension “.zip”. Once there, this ZIP file can be unpacked by double-clicking on it.

How can I recover or reset my account if the password/user name has been forgotten?

Follow the directions on your recovery code document:

• Goto https://www.securesafe.com/recover
• and enter the 36-character code.
• Your account will be reset, and you can specify a new password.

Please note that it is not possible to reset an account without a recovery code and that SecureSafe has no facilities for doing so. For this reason, it is important that you keep the recovery code safe. The recovery code is offered for download / print-out right after registration. Later you can print / download the recovery code after log-in. In the upper right corner you find the button to activate the "My Account" settings dialog.

Why do I need the recovery code, after all I can simply keep the user name/password in a safe place?

The login recovery code can reset more than just the username and password: an SMS authentication, if one is being used, is also reset (in case, for example, you can no longer access your data because your mobile phone has been lost).

After resetting the account do I then have to generate a new recovery code?

No.

How do I activate the data inheritance?

In the SecureSafe status indicator (bottom right in the SecureSafe application) you can see whether the account is properly set up so that the data inheritance can be performed.

• If it says “Data inheritance is switched off” or “Warning!”, then click on this text to see the status window. Go through and check the whole status window, until there is a green tick (OK) for the status shown everywhere.
• If you use the Password-Safe FREE, then make sure you have the “Activation code” which you have printed out handy. Now log out.
• As described on the activation code document, go to the website https://www.securesafe.com/activate. Now you will see an input field.
• Enter the 36-figure activation code on the screen.
• The data inheritance will now be started. As the account holder you will be notified by email and SMS that the inheritance has been initiated. You still have time now to halt this inheritance (should it have been started erroneously). If you do nothing, the data inheritance will be activated at the end of the safeguarding delay time which you yourself have specified in your SecureSafe account.

How can I stop the data inheritance process?

You can stop a data inheritance from actually taking place, after it has been started, and you have received the email or the SMS, by simply logging on to your account in the usual way, before the safeguarding delay period chosen by you has expired. After logging on you will see an unmistakable notice informing you that the data inheritance process is running, which you can now simply stop. If the data inheritance is halted, confidentiality is ensured as before. No data and passwords will have left your data-safe and none of the beneficiaries will have been notified.

What happens to those documents and passwords which I have not assigned to anyone, when the data inheritance is performed?

Documents and passwords which have not been assigned to anyone are securely deleted during the data inheritance, just as the account holder had wished.

Where can I find more information about the security and confidentiality of SecureSafe?

You will find further information about the security measures behind SecureSafe under Security.

Where do I find more information for former Entrustet users?

Please see our special Entrustet FAQ page.