Generally recognised sovereign internet
Cloud storage platform Box.net is ramping up security today, announcing a new set of tools and access controls for the enterprise. In addition, Box is also announcing a product integration with Intel to deliver additional protections for users and increased admin capabilities for IT managers.
In general, Box has made controls more granular. Now when users share any links on the storage platform, users can limit who can view a file or folder to only users within a company domain or to collaborators within a specific folder. Users can structure this so that these security controls only extend to individual files or to entire folders of content.
While Box has always offered a features that allowed admins to track each Box login from a new browser, you can now track logins from mobile devices, desktops via Box Sync as well as via custom apps using Box APIs. IT admins can now limit the number of devices an employee can access from the same user ID.
Box is also announcing a new relationship with Intel that includes integrations to simplify how IT administrators manage user permissions and group access through Single Sign-On (SSO) and authentication. For example, Box is working with Intel to streamline secure access to Box using credentials managed by Intel’s Expressway Cloud Access 360. Administrators can use ECA 360 to automatically provision Box accounts, leverage existing identity repositories and enable federated SSO to Box.
And Box customers using ECA 360 who want a more intense user identity verification can take advantage of 2-factor authentication available with ECA 360 and configure the system to challenge users to enter a one-time password, which is delivered separately via a smart phone or cell.
Additionally, Box Business Account customers now have access to an additional 500GB of storage capacity, for a total of 1TB of cloud storage at no additional cost. Box Enterprise Account customers receive an unlimited amount of data storage.
Rampung up security for the cloud storage platform should only help Box add additional Fortune 500 and enterprise customers. Already, provides storage solutions for 77% of the Fortune 500 with 100,000 businesses using Box’s service (250,000 new users are joining each month).
As the euro teeters on the brink of collapse, and the global economy faces unprecedented severe weather warnings, recovering unpaid tax is a higher priority than ever for countries feeling the financial pain.
Here in the UK, the government has earmarked additional funding to ensure that no stone is left unturned in its determination to stamp out tax evasion and avoidance. Recent estimates from HMRC (Sept 2011) suggest that the Tax Gap – that is, the difference between tax collected compared with that owed – could be around £35 billion: a serious figure at the best of times, let alone in a period of severe financial austerity.
The USA is also closing the net on the billions of dollars that the IRS believes to be held in offshore accounts, as shown in recent talks between the US and Switzerland over a possible tax treaty.
One of the most valuable assets sought by the tax authorities, however, is data. International agreements are increasingly focused on disclosure of information as a means of recovering past unpaid taxes, encouraging future compliance and deterring would-be evaders from hiding their money in the first place on the basis “be sure your sins will find you out.”
Resistance has been strong – the recent deals agreed between the UK and Switzerland, as well as between Germany and Switzerland, enable individuals to retain anonymity, but at the cost of a large one-off payment to cover past tax liabilities and a high annual withholding tax to settle on-going tax due. Clients who opt out of this withholding will, generally, have their details revealed to HMRC.
This has raised more than a few hackles within the European Commission, which regards such deals as going against its rules on data disclosure
However, in a bid to get the information they need, the authorities are increasingly targeting individual banks directly, rather than relying on blanket international agreements. The USA in particular is bringing criminal charges against banks which assist US citizens with tax evasion levying large fines and requiring the banks to reveal details of their clients.
Now that major banks have agreed to hand over client details, we are likely to see an acceleration in information sharing. The Swiss/UK Agreement imposes obligations on institutions to ensure their clients are tax compliant and in some circumstances enables information to be passed to the authorities.
Tax amnesties have also proved a valuable tool for tax authorities in the past, with measures such as Lichtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) encouraging non-compliant individuals to confess their sins – and pay back taxes and interest, but with reduced penalties.
Many countries are introducing legislation with extraterritorial effect which seeks to impose reporting requirements on individuals and institutions so the authorities can make sure that account holders are paying the tax they owe – on pain of severe financial penalties for non-compliance. The most high profile example is the USA’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
Other countries like Israel and France are imposing onerous reporting requirements on individuals with offshore funds, and the UK is also issuing tax returns to offshore trustees.
The effect of these measures is that people who fail to pay the taxes they owe are increasingly left with nowhere to hide. Even if the governments of tax havens are prepared to protect individuals, the banks themselves may be unable to escape investigation – or prevent information being stolen and leaked by an employee, as has happened recently.
Tension between the authorities and tax evaders is an age-old feud, but the storm currently brewing in the global financial markets is set to intensify the situation, with the stakes much higher on both sides.
All in the main recognised chief states are on this list. Territories that are not integral, such as dependent territories, are listed separately internet bezprzewodowy sosnowiec (in italics) or popular as included.
Posted in Uncategorized