Collaboration Opens New Era in Hard Drive Data Protection
(1888PressRelease) January 06, 2009 - San Jose, California and Zurich, Switzerland – Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) and SECUDE International AG today announced plans to jointly provide commercial notebook users and storage administrators an encryption solution that helps safeguard data in the event of system theft or loss. The combined solution uses Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B hard drives and FinallySecure Enterprise from SECUDE.
The use of encryption technology is growing rapidly, as notebooks continue to emerge as the primary PC for the home and office. Because they are frequently used as a repository for sensitive personal and business information, guarding against system theft and loss is of primary importance. The high cost of identity theft looms large for consumers, while corporations are at risk of data breaches that could result in legal action and significant expense.
“Hitachi is a leader in data protection. In fact, we've been providing Bulk Data Encryption as an optional feature on our popular Travelstar mobile hard drives for four generations,” said Brendan Collins, vice president, Product Marketing, Hitachi GST. “Our collaboration with SECUDE will now enable customers to further safeguard their notebook PCs by providing them with integrated security capabilities, such as simplified key management, remote drive configuration and drive decommissioning.”
“By working with Hitachi, we can bring the benefits of the FinallySecure Enterprise to customers everywhere,” said Tristan Kromer, Vice President of Data Protection Division, SECUDE. “If a notebook is lost or stolen, FinallySecure can erase the hard drive remotely or just temporarily decommission it. Our intuitive user interface and synchronization with Active Directory allows companies to easily protect their data, even when they cannot protect their notebook.”
The Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B allows secure erase of confidential and proprietary information stored on the drive. By removing the key used for encryption, all of the data is effectively lost, making it easy for users or administrators to redeploy or retire the hard drive. If the hard drive is used again, a unique security key is generated and new data will be written over the old, unreadable data.
The FinallySecure software provides total data-at-rest protection by combining hardware- and software-based technologies, in accordance with the TCG Opal specification. FinallySecure offers migration from single user to enterprise and software to hardware, all with central management.
Travelstar 5K500.B
The Travelstar 5K500.B features optional Bulk Data Encryption (BDE) for hard-drive-level data security. The drive was also the first in the industry to meet the forthcoming Opal specification established by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), an organization focused on developing open industry standards for security hardware and software.
The TCG Opal specification implemented in the Travelstar 5K500.B supports Pre-Boot Authentication (PBA) in hardware, and up to four separate encrypted data ranges with multiple user and administrative authentication credentials. It also speeds and simplifies the drive re-deployment process. By deleting the encryption key, the data is rendered unreadable, thereby eliminating the need for time-consuming data-overwrite.
The combined use of an encrypted hard drive and security software brings about significant performance improvements, as the system’s central processing unit (CPU) can be dedicated to running the operating system and applications, while data encryption fully resides on the hard drive. This becomes especially important for notebook PCs, where portability and low power consumption may limit the use of powerful CPUs.
SECUDE has designed its FinallySecure Enterprise to be compatible with TCG Opal-compliant hard drives, giving IT managers the ability to implement security solutions based on an industry standard.
Hitachi’s latest Travelstar hard drive delivers 500GB of storage capacity in a standard 2.5-inch notebook form factor. In addition to advanced encryption functionality, the drive has a number of eco-friendly features, such as halogen-free design and a read/write power specification that is the lowest in the industry.
The AES implementation in Hitachi BDE has received Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 197 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (for additional information, please visit:
http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cavp/documents/aes/aesval.html).
About SECUDE
SECUDE International AG is a market leader in SAP Security and End-to-End Data Protection, delivering a higher level of IT Security to organizations around the world. SECUDE is a member of SECUDE AG and was founded in 1996 out of a partnership between SAP AG and the Fraunhofer Institute in Darmstadt, Germany. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, we have a world-wide partner and customer base and with offices in Europe, USA, Asia, and the Middle East.
For more information, please go to http://www.secude.com
About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies develops advanced hard disk drives to store and preserve the world’s valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value, high-capacity storage in formats suitable for the office, in the home or on the road. With vertically integrated research, design and manufacturing capabilities, Hitachi GST delivers leadership technology and quality to its global customer base.
With approximately 32,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance storage systems and servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachigst.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 390,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) consolidated revenues totaled 11,226 billion yen ($112.2 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, logistics, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com
Hitachi GST trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi GST has the right to market the brands. Hitachi GST is not liable for third parties’ unauthorized use of Hitachi GST trademarks.
Media Contacts:
Jim Pascoe / Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
408-717-7924
james.pascoe ( @ ) hitachigst dot com
SECUDE International AG
Tel. +41 (0) 44 575 19 00
Fax. +41 (0) 44 575 19 75
media ( @ ) secude dot com
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