Using WebSpace to Share Sensitive Files with People Who Do Not Have a UT EID

UT WebSpace has been rated by the UT Information Security Office to be secure enough to store Category 1 data. This means if you need to share Category 1 data with other people, using WebSpace is an option. All current faculty, staff, and students are automatically given free file space on the UT WebSpace server. Faculty, staff, and students log into the WebSpace server using their EIDs. By default all files and directories in your WebSpace folder are accessible only by you. However you can make a file or directory in your webspace accessible to other people that you specify. Non-UT system individuals who do not have an EID can still access your shared WebSpace by using a "ticket" that you generate and give to that person. This tutorial will show you how to create "tickets" which will allow you to securely share files in your webspace account with people outside of UT who don't have an EID.

How to Create a Ticket

1.) Open your web browser and log into the WebSpace website which is located at the URL: https://webspace.utexas.edu . Log into the website with your EID.


2.) Check the box to the left of the folder that you want to grant the person access to. If you want to create a new folder, click the New Folder link near the upper right corner of the web page.


3.) In the top menu bar, click the gear icon labeled Manage. Then click the menu option Tickets.



4.) A list of current tickets for the folder will now appear. To create a new ticket for the folder, click the New Ticket button.

 

5.) A window displaying the ticket options will appear. Check the box labeled Password Enable this Ticket. Then specify a strong password and press the OK button when done.

  • By default when you share a directory, all files in it will be read-only to everyone you share the directory with. If you want other people to be able to edit the files in your directory then you need to select the Contributor option under Define Permissions. By default the ticket will expire after 30 days. This means that anyone who you give the ticket to will no longer be able to access your directory after 30 days. You can change the expiration date or configure it to never expire with the unlimited option.

 

6.)  Your newly created ticket will now appear in the list of tickets for the folder. Your newly created ticket will have a unique URL and this unique ticket URL is what you need to send to the person(s) you want to give access to the folder. You can highlight the URL and copy-and-paste it into an email message which you can send out. You can copy a highlighted item by pressing CONTROL+c in Windows or COMMAND+c on Mac. Then click the body of your email message and paste the link by pressing CONTROL+v on Windows or COMMAND+v on Mac.

  • DO NOT put the ticket password in the same email as the URL. Communicate the ticket password to the people you want to share the folder with by telling it to them over the phone or some other medium different than how you communicated the URL with. You don't want the ticket URL and password located in the same email because if someone gets access to the email or the person's email account then they will have all they need to access your sensitive files.

 

7.) OPTIONAL: You should now enable access logging on the folder you are sharing so that you will know when your sensitive files are being accessed and by whom. This tutorial explains how to do this.

 

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Last updated on July 16, 2009