Releases

posted on 13 February 2008 10:31

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MISSISSAUGA, Ontario & SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WinMagic® Data Security, an innovative leader in disk encryption, today announced that it is teaming with Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX - News), the worldwide leader in hard drives, to provide comprehensive, enterprise-class security for data-at-rest.

The companies have agreed to unite their best-in-class technologies –WinMagic SecureDoc software and Seagate Secure™ disk drive technology – as a next-generation security solution for data stored on desktops, notebooks and removable media.

There have been many instances of notebooks and other data storage devices misplaced or stolen over the last several years by various government agencies, as well as, other businesses that would benefit greatly by the combined solution of WinMagic’s SecureDoc software and the Seagate Secure™ hard disk drives.

Seagate Secure™ disk drive technology is a security platform combining strong, completely automated hardware-based full disk encryption and security, with a programmatic interface that makes it easy to add other software security applications. WinMagic’s SecureDoc™ supports Seagate Secure hard drives to deliver robust data protection, flexibility and end-user transparency under a single, extensible management console and policy framework.

WinMagic’s SecureDoc will provide organization-wide encryption key management, multi-factor user authentication, file/folder encryption and other capabilities that lock down digital information assets. Seagate’s Momentus® 5400 FDE.2 hard drive is the first notebook hard drive to offer Seagate Secure disk drive technology and a highly-secure computing environment for independent data processing and private code execution for certified software applications. Together, the combination of Seagate’s and WinMagic’s data-at-rest security solution offers an advanced key management capability that complements the strongest hardware-based level of security.

Integration of WinMagic’s SecureDoc security suite with the Seagate Secure disk drive technology will result in a complete encryption solution, offering comprehensive safeguards for data-at-rest, including:

- Fully-transparent, ‘always-on’ hardware-based full-disk encryption utilizing the Seagate Secure technology
- Secure partitioning to provide additional drive-level security solutions
- Sector-by-sector encryption of portable media – including USB drives and CD/DVDs – with SecureDoc award-winning client software
- Manual and automatic, policy-driven encryption for files, folders and containers
- Single or multi-factor user authentication at pre-boot, with support for any combination of passwords, USB tokens, smartcards, biometrics, TPM and PKI
- A secure erase and disposal capability for the decommissioning or repurposing of hard disk drives

All security functions can be administered from WinMagic’s centralized management application, SecureDoc Enterprise Server (SES). SES offers enterprise-class functions such as ‘silent’ software installation, interoperability with Active Directory, remote password recovery, dynamic key provisioning and encryption key escrow.

“With a rapidly-growing enterprise commitment to data protection, customers are demanding management solutions that support a broad range of security-enabled endpoints,” said Thi Nguyen-Huu, CEO of WinMagic Inc. “It is simply not feasible for large organizations to administer a discrete management system for each end-point security solution they deploy,” Nguyen-Huu continued. “Seagate Secure hard drives with the SecureDoc Enterprise Server provide seamless management of multiple encrypting devices, from different vendors, under a single administrator’s console. This makes it simple for organizations to deploy a mix of hardware and software-based encryption, or transition from one to the other, as requirements dictate and be confident that their administrators’ tools, policy engine and users’ experience will not change.”

“The combined Seagate and WinMagic offering will provide custodians of sensitive information with a highly secure, manageable data protection solution,” said John Bedrick, Senior Director of IT Security, New Business Initiatives at Seagate. “While software-based encryption has some practical applications, hardware-based encryption and security provides a level of trust and performance not achievable by software alone. By teaming with WinMagic and other software vendors, we are able to offer to the market very robust data protection solution that is scalable and highly manageable. Our combined goal is to reduce or eliminate the risks associated with unnecessary data loss or data exposure from unprotected desktops, notebooks and other portable storage media.”

“The Seagate Secure technology platform integrates pre-boot authentication and high performance AES encryption right into the drive so that data is always encrypted and sensitive cryptographic materials, such as encryption keys, never leave this secure storage environment,” said Jon Oltsik, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “WinMagic’s SecureDoc provides the necessary multi-factor authentication component that government agencies and many large businesses require for providing access to sensitive data stored on computer systems or portable hard drives,” Oltsik continued. “Further, by bringing the Seagate Secure encrypted drives under the WinMagic SES umbrella, customers will benefit from WinMagic’s advanced security policy and key management. The combined WinMagic and Seagate security solution addresses many of the gaps in large government and business installations for protecting data-at-rest with full key management.”

Seagate, WinMagic, and industry leading security companies are working together to build stronger data security solutions for companies, government agencies and people who need to protect their data-at-rest. As the newest company in the Seagate Secure Alliance Partner program, WinMagic joins a consortium that includes the world’s largest computer corporations, security software companies and system builders around the world. The partnership encompasses technology integration and collaboration, customer education and awareness while focused on the joint mission of providing leading-edge security products and solutions.
See http://www.seagate.com and http://www.winmagic.com.