NEWS & EVENTS

We are pleased to announce the launch of SkyFile Mail 10.2, the latest innovative addition to our leading SkyFile messaging portfolio. Designed to further enhance cyber and data protection, improve convenience and simplify management of SkyFile Mail traffic and user accounts, the latest update makes managing email traffic even more straightforward and efficient.

The continued development of SkyFile Mail specifically addresses demand from the market and enables us to remain at the forefront of the messaging tools available in our industry. New services and features provided by this new release include:

Enhanced Cyber Security 

• Password encryption and new password management capabilities in Portal360.
  • The new procedure for resetting passwords begins with the Master contacting the shipping company HQ, from which a password reset can be triggered in Portal360.
    • Security and control is significantly improved by reducing access to sensitive services and information.
    • To avoid the need to pass on passwords to multiple users, the Master simply accesses a list of user subaccounts, and ticks boxes to indicate which admin rights (e.g. AFT configuration) and access rights (e.g. to onboard billing, call log access, etc.) to link to each subaccount.
    • This generates a new password which is only visible by the onshore administrator, who is responsible communicating it to the ship.
• New Sender Policy Framework (SPF) email validation to reduce unwanted incoming emails and increase the legitimacy rating of outgoing emails.
  • SkyFile Mail now adopts an SPF methodology which detect email spoofing by checking that incoming emails from a domain come from a legitimate host, authorised by that domain’s administrators.
    • This can also block emails from spammers disguised as being from a recognised domain (such as @skyfile.com) as the shipping companies’ mail server can check the valid source IP of incoming emails.
    • In parallel, creating the SPF record for mail.skyfile.com enables external email servers to better verify the source of mails coming from skyfile.com, increasing trust and security and minimising the associated ‘spam score’.
• In parallel, ongoing improvements have continually strengthened the protection for SkyFile Mail installation and usage, in line with ever evolving cyber threats.
   

Efficient Data Protection and Back-Up

• In line with growing regulatory pressures including GDPR legislation, efforts have been made to better support data storage and protection in SkyFile Mail.
  • Global account configuration is now mirrored and backed up on the SkyFile server (on the shore-side).
    • In case of a system crash: 
      - Loss of data (including emails, billing logs, contact details, etc.) is avoided, supporting more secure management of data.   -- Business disruption is minimised as important data can be automatically synchronised right back to the relevant onboard PCs.
    • Configurations like AFT rules, address book, etc. will all be backed up as part of the overall SkyFile configuration, so when reinstalled, the original configuration can be completely restored to its original state.
    • The SkyFile back-up process is now applied to the entire SkyFile Mail configuration, right down to each individual user level (each subaccount).
       

Hosting & File Sharing Services

• SkyFile Mail v10.2 brings augmentation to the way we host and share external domains with customers and partners.
  • From now on, if customers request to have a customised domain (e.g. @victoriastarshipping.com instead of @skyfile.com), this will become their sole and old domains will stop working.
    • This process will ease the process for customers migrating from one domain to another, without email collisions or disturbance, ensuring better clarity and control.
    • The companies agreed email rules and processes can be defined per domain rather than in a general way as before.
    • After a 3 month grace period, if an email is sent to an old domain, a notification is automatically sent to the sender to inform them that the email address no longer exists and will not reach the recipient.
• In parallel, new and improved Automatic File Transfer (ATF) functions are available within SkyFile Mail, as we continue to improve, evolve and create new features according to the needs of our customers.
• Minor bug fixes have also been implemented.
   

Extended Compatibility

• As part of the wider SkyFile suite, tracking facilities are extended to use via Iridium OpenPort (as well as the existing FleetBroadband and BGAN compatibility)
  • As a reminder, SkyFile can function as a tracking application via SkyFile GPS Data Reporting (SkyFile GPS Data Reporting not compatible with Marlink’s XChange box).

The new features of SkyFile v10.2 facilitate the life of the master and protect critical data from being lost. Thanks to Over the Air (OTA) updates, most customers on Sealink and FleetBroadband will automatically receive this update by default. Only customers on older legacy services have to manually select the download option.

The new SkyFile Mail 10.2 software is available for download at SkyfileMail10.2_Download