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NTT Communications Corp (NTT Com) announced today a security solution that encrypts all data on a PC's hard drive, and at a faster speed than similar systems. Sales begin Saturday.
The solution, called Drive Protector Advance, allows laptop PCs to be used outside offices without fear of information theft. Due to the risk of laptops being lost or stolen, many companies are forced to implement strict security procedures, including forbidding company laptops from being taken outside the office. Such restrictions can not only diminish efficiency, they also can create new security risks by obliging employees to carry hard copies of critical information outside the company.
Drive Protector Advance encrypts the entire data on a PC's hard drive using a proprietary randomization algorithm developed by NTT Com. It then divides the data for storage on the PC and a dedicated USB flash drive, eliminating the risk of information theft even if the PC or USB drive were stolen.
The algorithm's simple formulae enable speedy randomization and decoding.
Randomization and decoding can be initiated by simply connecting or disconnecting the USB drive. No network is required. The entire hard drive is randomized automatically, eliminating the risk of forgetting to randomize certain sensitive data, or randomizing the wrong data.
Drive Protector Advance will be sold in a complete package that also includes a dedicated USB flash drive and encryption-optimized Panasonic Let'snote R8 laptop loaded with Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2. Compatibility with other models and operating systems is envisioned.
© JCN
3 Comments
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Scrote
I wonder how secure the "proprietary randomization algorithm" is? Probably not very good, or there would be no need to keep it secret.
If you are paranoid, you can use TrueCrypt to encrypt your data. It costs nothing and uses tried and tested encryption algorithms.
huberts2
When it comes to this subject I am in 'fairy-land' but I am sure someone out there will teach me by correcting my pathetic response to this news. If you twist my arm hard enough I shall give you my password and you can read my stored mail and ' the national secrets' I am carrying in the hard drive. Now I display my ignorance - should I resist and not allow you entry to my computer, by withholding that password, or by not giving you my finger for the scanner, I presume that you could not directly use my computer but if you remove my hard drive it may be installed in and read by a host PC. The next ignorance appears when I suggest that this new NTT encyption programme in fact encrypts what is on my hard drive so that it cannot be read by any means without the dedicated USB. OK, let's have it!?
insgdt
Fundamentally flawed system.
After years of working in IT I can tell you that users will ALWAYS transport their USB key in the same bag as their laptop, rendering this system completely useless. ie Steal the bag and you will have both the encrypted laptop and the key to unlock it.
The safest way is to use a biometric scanner and a challenge response system.