Techniques for securely sharing files from a cloud storage

1. A method implemented by a client device for securely sharing items from a cloud storage, comprising:

capturing an electronic message sent by the client device, the electronic message designating at least one recipient, wherein the electronic message includes at least one attachment;

identifying the at least one attachment and the at least one recipient designated in the electronic message;

sending, to a cloud storage system (CSS), a list indicating the identified at least one recipient;

receiving by the client device, from the CSS, a link to a shared folder which points to the shared folder at the folder level and which opens the shared folder upon activation of the link and successful authentication of the at least one recipient in response thereto so as to enable access to the shared folder by the at least one recipient, wherein the shared folder is in the CSS and wherein the access enabled is to at least access content in the shared folder by each of the at least one recipient in accordance with access restrictions for each of the at least one recipient in accordance with a collaboration policy;

replacing, in the electronic message, the at least one attachment with the received link;

uploading, to the shared folder, at least one of the at least one attachment; and

sending, to the at least one recipient, the electronic message with the replaced link, wherein an authentication procedure is applied for each one of the at least one recipient upon activation of the replaced link by the recipient, wherein the authentication procedure, based upon a determined sensitivity level of the at least one attachment, for each of the at least one recipient who is an internal user of the CSS in that such internal user has a verified account with the CSS is a first type of authentication procedure and wherein the authentication procedure for each of the at least one recipient who is an external user of the CSS in that such external user does not have a verified account with the CSS is a second type of authentication procedure different from the first type of authentication procedure and wherein the second type of authentication includes sending a verification challenge from the CSS using a secondary channel of communication.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, for each attachment, whether the attachment is stored in the CSS, wherein each uploaded attachment is not determined as stored in the CSS.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

instructing the CSS to store, in the shared folder, one of: a copy of, or a reference to, at least another one of the at least one attachments that is determined as stored in the CSS without uploading the at least another one of the at least one attachments.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each uploaded attachment is uploaded via a de-duplicated synchronization protocol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of authentication procedure includes at least one of: requesting a username and password combination, requesting a client certificate, requesting a personal identification number code, and sending a personal notification to each identified internal recipient.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one attachment is a folder.

7. A system for securely sharing files from a cloud storage, comprising:

a processing circuitry; and

a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:

capture an electronic message sent by a client device, the electronic message designating at least one recipient, wherein the electronic message includes at least one attachment;

identify the at least one attachment and the at least one recipient designated in the electronic message;

send, to a cloud storage system (CSS), a list indicating the identified at least one recipient;

upload, to the shared folder, at least one of the at least one attachment;

send from the CSS to each one of the at least one recipient, a link to a shared folder which points to the shared folder at the folder level and which opens the shared folder upon activation of the link and successful authentication of the at least one recipient in response thereto so as to enable access to the shared folder by the at least one recipient, wherein the shared folder is in the CSS and wherein the access enabled is to at least modify access content in the shared folder by each of the at least one recipient in accordance with access restrictions for each of the at least one recipient in accordance with a collaboration policy, wherein an authentication procedure, based upon a determined sensitivity level of the at least one attachment, is applied for each one of the at least one recipient upon activation of the link by the recipient, wherein the authentication procedure for each of the at least one recipient who is an internal user of the CSS in that such internal user has a verified account with the CSS is a first type of authentication procedure and wherein the authentication procedure for each of the at least one recipient who is an external user of the CSS in that such external user does not have a verified account with the CSS is a second type of authentication procedure different from the first type of authentication procedure;

replace, in the electronic message, the at least one attachment with a notification indicating that a link to the at least one of the at least one attachment is contained in a separate electronic message; and

send, to the at least one recipient, the electronic message with the notification.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the system is further configured to:

determine, for each attachment, whether the attachment is stored in the CSS; and

upload, to the CSS, each attachment that is determined as not stored in the CSS.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein each uploaded attachment is uploaded via a de-duplicated synchronization protocol.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first type of authentication procedure includes at least one of: requesting a username and password combination, requesting a personal identification number code, and sending a personal notification to each identified recipient, and the second type of authentication procedure includes sending a verification challenge to an email address of each identifier recipient.

11. A method for securely sharing items from a cloud storage, comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a list of recipients for an electronic message;

creating a shared folder;

sending, to the client device, a link to the shared folder which points to the shared folder at the folder level and which opens the shared folder upon activation of the link and successful authentication of at least one of the recipients in response thereto so as to enable access to the shared folder by the at least one of the recipients and wherein the access enabled is to at least access in the shared folder by each of the at least one of the recipients in accordance with access restrictions for each of the at least one recipients in accordance with a collaboration policy;

receiving, from a user device, at least one identifier, wherein the at least one identifier is received in response to a user of the user device accessing the sent link;

determining, based on the at least one identifier, whether the user is among the list of recipients; and

authenticating, based on the received at least one identifier, the user of the user device, wherein the authentication procedure, based upon a determined sensitivity level of the at least one attachment, for each of the at least one recipient who is an internal user of the cloud storage in that such internal user has a verified account with the cloud storage is a first type of authentication procedure and wherein the authentication procedure for each of the at least one recipient who is an external user of the cloud storage in that such external user does not have a verified account with the cloud storage is a second type of authentication procedure different from the first type of authentication procedure, wherein the second type of authentication includes sending a challenge via a secondary communication channel and receiving a corresponding response to the sent challenge.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

checking, based on the list of recipients, the collaboration policy to determine if the collaboration policy has been violated, wherein the shared folder is created when the collaboration policy has not been violated.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first type of authentication is based on a user accounts directory.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one identifier includes at least one of: an email address, and a username.

15. A system for securely sharing files from a cloud storage, comprising:

a processing circuitry; and

a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:

receive, from a client device, a list of recipients for an electronic message;

create a shared folder;

send, to the client device, a link to the shared folder, the link pointing to the shared folder at the folder level and which opens the shared folder upon activation of the link and successful authentication of the at least one recipient in response thereto so as to enable access to the shared folder by the at least one recipient and wherein the access enabled is to at least access in the shared folder by each of the at least one of the recipients in accordance with access restrictions for each of the at least one recipients in accordance with a collaboration policy;

receive, from a user device, at least one identifier, wherein the at least one identifier is received in response to a user of the user device accessing the sent link;

determine, based on the at least one identifier, whether the user is among the list of recipients; and

authenticate, based on the received at least one identifier, the user of the user device, wherein the authentication procedure, based upon a determined sensitivity level of the at least one attachment, for each of the at least one recipient who is an internal user of the cloud storage in that such internal user has a verified account with the cloud storage is a first type of authentication procedure and wherein the authentication procedure for each of the at least one recipient who is an external user of the cloud storage in that such external user does not have a verified account with the cloud storage is a second type of authentication procedure different from the first type of authentication procedure, wherein the second type of authentication includes sending a challenge via a secondary communication channel and receiving a corresponding response to the sent challenge.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system is further configured to:

determine for each recipient based on the collaboration policy, at least one of: an access restriction or an authentication method, where the access restriction may be to prevent the collaboration entirely.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first type of authentication is based on a user accounts directory.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one identifier includes at least one of: an email address, and a username.