3

Is there a software (that is free and portable) that can package your files into a single file. You will sent this single file to your receiver. Once the receiver open the single file to read all the files inside it, it will self destruct in X minutes that you set.

Basically, the process is as follows:

  • Sender A use this software and package FileA.jpg, FileB.doc and FileC.msg.
  • Sender A set the self destructing timing as 5 minutes.
  • Sender A click Package button and all the files are packaged into a single file called PackageA.pkg
  • Sender A send PackageA.pkg to Receiver B via email.
  • Receiver B open the email and download the attachment PackageA.pkg file into PC.
  • Receiver B open the PackageA.pkg file to read the content.
  • While reading the file content, the PackageA.pkg file will show a timer informing of the user (which is Receiver B) that the file is going to self destruct.
  • When 5 minutes is up, the file self destruct and Receiver B will have to download the attachment file again from email.
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  • This will never truly exist. As a sender, you will never be sure, whether anyone (not only the recipient) will make a copy of the content-to-be-destroyed. – Marcel Feb 11 '15 at 8:56
  • @Marcel, the files inside the package cannot be extracted. If the user make a copy of the package, it will still be self destruct in a specific time when open and read. At the worst case, the sender may set the self destruct timing as 10 seconds. – user275517 Feb 11 '15 at 8:59
  • Really dont want to troll but read this: grc.com/sn/sn-444.htm, search for "self-destruct". – Marcel Feb 11 '15 at 10:21
6

What you are asking for is impossible. If you send some data to a computer that you don't control, then you cannot ensure that the data will be deleted.

There is software that pretends to do what you ask. This software only works if it's used on computers that are not under the control of the recipient of the file. You'll tend to find such software on mobile phones. They rely on the fact that most owners of mobile phones only own the physical device but not the computing environment: on a non-jailbroken/rooted phone, it's the phone vendor that controls the computing environment. These applications work as long as the user doesn't take control of the phone's operating system. Note that even then, the data can escape — the user can take a picture of their screen, or memorize it, and there's nothing you can do about that.

On PCs, users typically remain in control their computers, so even if you send content that's encrypted and displayed by a specialized application, it's usually easy to extract the content at the point where the specialized application displays it (e.g. if the content is a picture, take a screenshot, which applications can't disable). The user can also change the clock so that the application thinks the data hasn't expired.

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  • Mission: Impossible – Davidenko Feb 15 '15 at 20:17
2

There's a couple of online Dropbox style solutions that support self destructing links to files:

The files themselves won't self destruct after you download them though.

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