PORTLAND, Ore. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – During the long, demanding hours of the tax season, tax preparers are deluged in a constant exchange of sensitive information with clients. Private client information, such as social security numbers, travels back and forth between the preparer and client for tax returns and forms, financial statements and letters of opinion. Face-to-face meetings can be impractical, fax machines provide an unreliable level of confidentiality, and while remarkably efficient, traditional email fails to protect the privacy of this data from interception and puts both the sender and recipient at risk.

Smarsh, the managed service leader in secure, innovative and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions, today announced a new promotion for its smarshEncrypt secure messaging platform aimed at certified public accounting (CPA) firms. smarshEncrypt can be deployed quickly, offers a simple and efficient user experience and, most importantly, protects the transmission of messages and files in accordance with emerging data breach mandates and legislation.

“smarshEncrypt enables tax preparers to leverage the efficiency benefits associated with email while protecting themselves and their clients from data leaks and identity theft,” said Stephen Marsh, CEO and founder of Smarsh. “Rather than implementing complicated encryption procedures that impede business processes, CPA firms can deploy a convenient and secure solution immediately, collaborate on large files securely without worrying about file-size limits and demonstrate a clear commitment to the security of their clients’ data.”

Why smarshEncrypt?

Protecting clients’ valuable electronic data has never been more mission-critical. Use of traditional email to transfer private information can leave businesses susceptible to data breach and subsequent reputational, legal and financial consequences. The punitive ramifications of failure to protect sensitive data outweigh the cost of deploying encryption capabilities.

Over 40 states have enacted data breach notification and disclosure acts, and in some states, such as Arizona, Florida, Texas and Colorado, businesses face civil or criminal penalty for failure to promptly disclose breaches to customers. The most progressive state laws (Nevada and Massachusetts) – in effect or soon to be – require businesses to use a secure messaging solution for transferring electronic data. Later this year, the Federal Trade Commissions’s Red Flags Rule will take effect, requiring covered organizations to implement a written program to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft.

How does it work?

smarshEncrypt is a hosted secure messaging platform that enables users to securely send and receive messages and files. Message recipients are notified of the secure transmission and follow simple instructions to access the smarshEncrypt platform. In seconds, the sender and recipient(s) can confidentially and securely read and reply to messages.

Deployed via the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, smarshEncrypt lightens the burden on email servers, as both secure messages and attached files reside in the smarshEncrypt platform, rather than on the sender’s or recipient’s email server. Clients can use smarshEncrypt as a dedicated, secure file transfer system and eliminate the impact of file-size limits within their email systems. Email-related storage and costs are reduced, as is impact on network bandwidth.

No hardware, software or plug-ins are needed to access the Web-based system, and there are no certificate or key exchanges necessary to access secure messages. The smarshEncrypt platform works with any operating system, and service is compatible with Web-enabled mobile messaging devices.

All aspects of an organization’s smarshEncrypt experience – including notifications – can be customized, strengthening branding efforts and building trust with a demonstrated commitment to client data security.

Free through tax season

New customers who sign up for a one-year engagement can use smarshEncrypt to send and receive messages and files securely for free through April 15, 2010. Pricing is based on seat count and applicable service modules and starts as low as $10 per account per month. Quotes are available by contacting Smarsh directly at 1-877-278-9561. For more information or for a no-obligation demonstration of smarshEncrypt, visit www.smarshencrypt.com/tax.

Smarsh is the managed service leader in secure, innovative and reliable email-archiving solutions for message compliance and records retention, proactive litigation readiness and mail server data management. Smarsh solutions for data-leak prevention and secure messaging help users meet email and file transfer encryption obligations, mitigate risk associated with outbound email, and facilitate email supervision.

Founded in 2001, the growth of Smarsh has been recognized at both the local and national level. In 2008 and 2009, the company was named to the “Inc. 500,” Inc. magazine’s annual analysis of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. Deloitte honored Smarsh with a spot on its Technology Fast 500 list for 2009 and the Portland Business Journal recently ranked Smarsh No. 1 in its 2009 growth rankings for the state of Oregon.