Secure Attachments for Transactional Emails

[robertc66522596]

Hello,

We are in the midst of implementing Message Center for our V8 Campaign instance. One of our requirements is to attach message specific PDFs to templates -- for instance of invoices.

I've found documentation that discusses how to attach a PDF to the email located here: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/campaign-classic/using/transactional-messaging/transactional... 

It discusses how it is inappropriate to send PII over email, so instead people can send a secure PDF. We agree with that statement, but feels like we're missing something. The process discusses putting the PDF into an FTP or other online disk system and then the transactional messaging event fetches the remote file.

But how is that call to fetch the PDF authenticated?

I found another experience league post which suggests to us that the file needs to be publicly accessible on the web -- I'm hoping that I've misunderstood as that undermines the idea of securing this data. Or is it that the process requires that the PDF be password protected or secured in some other means?

Please let me know how you've approached this with others, ideally we can authenticate the call to fetch the PDF so that our end users can access the attachment from the email without needing to take additional action on the PDF and without it being accessible on the open web.

Thanks!

Robbie

[Marcel_Szimonisz · Accepted solution]

Hello @robertc66522596 ,

we are solving similar problem. And here are the options:

• Directly create PDF in adobe campaign - Can you build such invoice directly with tools provided? I guess some sort of invoice can be created directly in the adobe attachment functionality where the pdf will contain all information about the order coming from the transactional email.
  Take a look at the Personalized Message section
  
  https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/campaign-classic/using/sending-messages/sending-emails/attac...
  
  
  This way the attachment is not sitting on link nor on sftp it is created directly in the email from some word or odt template.

• SFTP file has to be uploaded prior the transactional call is made. This could work also where you set to send transactional email after the attachment is uploaded successfully. Where in the rt event you will provide file name so it can be easily calculated.
• "Public url"  should be accessible to Adobe Campaign only so during the attachment calculation the file can be picked up.
  
  

Marcel

[robertc66522596]

Hi @Marcel_Szimonisz ,

Thank you for the quick response and providing these options! I don't think the first will work for us, but the second seems like it can work.

How are we able to identify that Adobe Campaign is reaching for the file? Does that come from the same IPs of the RT instance so we can whitelist? Or are you accomplishing it another way?

Thanks again!

[Marcel_Szimonisz]

Hello @robertc66522596 ,

You can build worklfow and test it if it works or not. I do not know your setup but normally rt execution instance runs on another AC instance.

- if you have access to the rt instance you can set up technical workflow to pick up files, and save them to local dedicated folder.

- if the application instance can push files to rt instance on file sytem level you can set up sftp loading technical workflow on the application instance.

Marcel

[robertc66522596]

FYI following up here.

Adobe product confirmed for us that they will be fetching the documents from the same IP address that will be sending, so we are planning on whitelisting that IP in order to access the document securely and attach it. I will update here if that does not work. THanks!

The back-up plan is to use a One-Time link that we create and host right before triggering the transactional email.