Fujifilm
Launches Wireless Backup Tape Tracker
VALHALLA,
N.Y. - March 26, 2008 - Fujifilm today announced the immediate
availability of the Fujifilm Tape Tracker, a wireless tool to help data
managers increase security of data by tracking in real-time the location and
status of sensitive removable media cartridges while in transit.
The Fujifilm Tape Tracker (patents pending) is designed within a 0.5" tape
cartridge format, enabling it to fit snugly and discreetly inside nearly any
tape media case. The Fujifind application uses the information, tracking,
geo-fencing and notification capability of SC-Integrity's
LoJack
InTransit monitoring solution.
“The tremendous feedback we received from customers when we
introduced this concept last year made clear - there is a significant desire to
maintain visibility and control over removable media during shipment from one
location to another,” said Daniel Greenberg at Fujifilm Recording Media. “The
ability of tape to store
large quantities of data in a cost effective, energy efficient, removable format
make it a preferred medium to backup and archive critical business data. The
Tape Tracker gives power back to the data managers to maintain a chain of
custody for these assets as they move between data center backup, vault or
disaster recovery destinations.”
...Fujifilm profile
Hifn Unveils Roadmap for iSCSI VARs
LOS GATOS, Calif -
February 25, 2008 – Hifn today unveiled its partner program aimed
at resellers in the the rapidly growing iSCSI market.
The company
has high confidence in the appeal of its
iSCSI tape encryption
appliances and says that 10% of VARs who saw a recent Hifn webinar
applied to become channel partners immediately afterwards. ...Hifn profile
Editor's
comments: Hifn's VAR programs have road warrior themes with names like
Fast Start, Freeway and Autobahn. Those words are loaded with meaning and could
backfire. Around here you can get a sense of what driving used to be like as you
drive to the airport at 3am on a Sunday morning. At many other times it's
quicker to walk.
Heise Article Shows HDD Encryption Flaws
Editor:-
February 18, 2008 - an article today on Heise Online reveals that the so
called 128 bit hardware encryption in some hard disk products is ineffective -
because it hasn't been implemented properly.
XML Firewall Supports Solaris on SPARC
Vancouver,
Canada - February 11, 2008 - Layer 7 Technologies announced today its
XML Firewall and XML Networking Gateway software products support Solaris 10
on SPARC platforms from Sun Microsystems.
The SecureSpan
XML Firewall provides advanced identity and message level SOA security for
cross-domain, B2B and portal applications, while the SecureSpan XML Networking
Gateway adds support for complex SOA message routing, mediation, virtualization
and Service Level Agreements. In addition to gateway software Layer 7 also
offers a family of turnkey, hardware-accelerated XML appliances for the data
center.
...Layer 7 Technologies,
SPARC Product Directory
PQI's Traveling Disk
Taipei, Taiwan - January 29,
2008 - PQI today launched the Traveling Disk U173.
The key-chain form factor 8GB
USB
flash disk has a
gliding case design which is lid-less. The blue / black or silver / white case
has a sandblasted polished surface. Integrated software includes outlook
synchronization and PC-Lock security.
...PQI profile
UK Tax Agency Puts Millions of Identities at Risk
Editor:-
November 21, 2007 - yesterday it was revealed that the UK government's tax
collection agency had lost personal records (including bank details and social
security numbers) for 25 million citizens.
The data had been sent
unencrypted on 2 disks via the mail. It was not the first time this had been
done.
New Maxtor Disks Were Infected by Virus
Editor:-
November 15, 2007 - Seagate's Technical Support page confirms that a
virus was installed on new Maxtor branded disks produced by a
subcomtractor.
Apparently some infected units were sold to the
public before the problem was detected. I was sceptical about this when I saw
earlier
reports but it shows that you can never be too paranoid about protecting
your data. Big markets tend to be lost by oems shooting themselves in the foot
rather than being grabbed by nimble competitors. ...Seagate profile,
Hard disk drives
QED Connect Zaps SPAM for I/OMagic's Marketers
NASHUA, NH - October 3, 2007 -
QED Connect, Inc. today announced it has won a contract with I/OMagic
Corp.
I/OMagic selected QED's all-inclusive Omni Manager as a way to
acquire essential security technologies in one hosted package and avoid the high
costs of installing and managing multiple packaged software products.
"We had severe spam issues that were preventing us from operating
our business efficiently. Employees were wasting hours sifting through junk
e-mail, and an IT staff that's busy enough already was draining resources trying
to keep it all under control," said John McLean, IT Manager for I/OMagic
Corp. "Within 2 days of its implementation, Omni Manager had filtered out
over 30,000 spam messages. This is an affordable, all-in-one tool that enables
us to benefit from the latest Internet and e-mail security technologies -
without me having to buy, install and manage a myriad of boxed security
products." ...QED Connect,
...I/OMagic profile,
Storage Security,
Removable Storage
Seagate Wins Certification for Encrypted Hard
Drive
SCOTTS
VALLEY, Calif - July 30, 2007 - Seagate today announced that the
encryption chip built into its Momentus 5400 FDE.2 laptop drive has been
certified by NIST.
The
Seagate
Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (Full Disc Encryption) hard drive uses
AES to
encrypt all hard drive
information transparently and automatically. The hard drive also gives
organizations an easy, cost-effective way to repurpose or retire laptops without
compromising sensitive information and to comply with the growing number of
data privacy laws
calling for the protection of consumer information using government-grade
encryption. ...Seagate
profile, article:-
Adding Trust to Storage Drives
Yosemite Supports LTO-4 Encryption
San Jose, CA - July
17, 2007 - Yosemite Technologies, Inc. today announced that its
Yosemite Backup 8.5 supports the recently added encryption features in the
LTO-4 tape format.
"Given the portable nature of
tape backups, and the fact
they are often stored at off-site locations, the device-level
encryption feature
of LTO-4 is critical in preventing unauthorized data access," said Arun
Taneja, founder Taneja
Group.
Yosemite Backup 8.5 offers customers a choice between software or
hardware encryption and takes advantage of the multi-stream capability of LTO-4
by offering up to 8 concurrent data streams at no additional cost. With its
built-in, no-cost Virtual Tape Library capability, Yosemite Backup 8.5 can even
maintain the same policies used for tape backup when deploying a
disk-based backup solution.
...Yosemite profile,
Tape Libraries
Secure Information Sharing Architecture for .GOVs
Washington
- July 10, 2007 -
Cisco, EMC and Microsoft today announced a new
technology alliance targeting government users based around Secure
Information Sharing Architecture.
Historically, information
protection technologies have been enforced system-by-system, creating islands of
protected data. Some government agencies are having trouble providing role-based
access to sensitive content within their own organizations, and the problems
become much more difficult when sharing sensitive content across different
agencies.
By utilizing SISA, government agencies can more easily set
up security-enhanced, virtual networks for different authorized users and
communities to access sensitive files stored in different information protection
systems. SISA will enable new scenarios for cross-government information
sharing.
...Cisco profile,
...EMC profile,
...Microsoft profile,
SAN,
Storage Security,
SAN switches
Guidance Software Tops Electronic Discovery
Survey
PASADENA,
Calif - June 27, 2007 - Guidance Software Inc. today announced that
the 2007 Socha-Gelbmann eDiscovery Survey ranked the company #1 in
customer satisfaction.
The full public report will be available in the August issue of
Law Technology News.
...Guidance Software
profile, ...Socha-Gelbmann
Survey
New Venture Targets Telco Storage Security
CUPERTINO,
Calif - May 21, 2007 – Symantec Corp and Huawei Technologies
Co., Ltd. today announced they are forming a joint venture company.
The new company will develop and distribute security and storage
appliances to global telecommunications carriers and enterprises. According to
IDC, the global security
and storage appliance market is $23 billion today, and the market in China is
forecast to exceed $1.1 billion. ...Huawei,
...Symantec profile,
Backup Encryption Gets Smarter Card Management
Infosecurity Europe, London
- April 24, 2007 - DISUK today launches iSecure smart card management
for its Paranoia2 and SafeTape in-line encryption devices.
DISUK's
in-line encryption (for tape or optical disk) uses a unique user encryption key
and also a unique hardware encryption key on the processor, so that even if
someone attempted to read a tape on another unit, it will be unreadable.
However, for disaster recovery scenarios, where another unit is kept at your DR
supplier's site or unmanned secondary data centre, a spare chip is provided and
iSecure will allow managers to re-enter the keys over a secure link in order to
read the data, negating the need to ship keys.
Smart cards are
configured to allow staff to carry out functions with differing levels of
authority and can be site specific or cover the business. Standard access levels
for operator, backup operator, security officer, full administrator, auditor and
engineer.
The operations management database is automatically updated as users
use their cards, or as cards are superseded and voided. Cards are activated by
insert and pin code (smart chip and pin) and the data on the cards is encrypted.
Each card has a unique pin code assigned to the individual user and all changes
are recorded into the audit logs.
...DISUK profile,
Tape drives,
Backup Software,
Storage Security
Maxell Launches World's 1st Secure iVDR Hard
Drive
Tokyo
- March 20, 2007 -
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. today announced the launch of the world's first
iVDR compatible removable hard disk drive capable of recording copyright
protected High Definition content without quality loss.
The new
drive 5,400 RPM drive fits in the palm of the hand and provides 160G of data
storage and a data transfer rate of 540Mbit/s. Employing
SAFIA copyright
protection technology the new is being launched for use with
Hitachi's
Wooo flat-panel TV, which is the world's first appliance employing iVDR
slots.
The iVDR Consortium was
established in March 2002 and now consists of more than 50 companies promoting
the iVDR standard. ...Maxell
profile, Removable
Disk Drives, Storage
Industry Trade Associations
Olixir Offers Compression / Encryption Card for
D2d
MILPITAS, Calif. -
February 1, 2007- –
Olixir Technologies today launch a hardware accelerated compression and
encryption PCI-X card for use with its disk to disk backup systems.
Two
models are being offered, one optimized for use with Symantec (formerly:
Veritas)
Backup
Exec, and the other for use with EMC-Insignia
(Formerly: Dantz) Retrospect. The SC-1000 provides a compression ratio
typically from 2:1 to 4:1 with the majority of databases and email files and
delivers compression throughput speeds upto 75MB/s and decompression speeds of
upto 90MB/s. Throughput speeds reach 85MB/s in 128-bit and 65MB/s in 256-bit
when encrypting and decrypting stored data. The list price is $995.
...Olixir profile,
Disk to disk backup
HitachiSoft Extends Market for Mobile Disk
Encryption
Stockholm,
SWEDEN - January 16, 2007 - HitachiSoft will distribute Pointsec's
Pocket PC security products in the Japanese market under the brand name Hibun
AE MobilePhone Encryption.
Pointsec is currently the worldwide
market leader for mobile data protection, with a global installed base of more
than 5 million users. HitachiSoft currently offers per disk data encryption,
removable media encryption and file encryption through Hibun AE Information
Cypher and full-disk encryption through Hibun FDE (Pointsec for PC).
...Pointsec profile,
...Hitachi profile,
Storage Software,
Storage Security
CryptoStick Could Have Mitigated Los Alamos
Incident
CARY,
N.C. - November 17, 2006 -
Research Triangle Software says that incidents, like the recent breach
of security at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are fully
preventable by using products like its CryptoStick and CryptoLock encryption
software.
In the
Los
Alamos incident, a USB
flash memory stick
containing highly classified nuclear secrets was discovered in a mobile home
near the laboratory. It was found to contain a number of personal files, but
also 22 pages of classified information taken from the facility by a worker
doing extra work at home. While the act of removing the material from the site
at all should not have occurred, the circumstances could have been mitigated had
the documents been encrypted instead of being fully readable.
The response from Los Alamos, announced this week, has been to ban
such devices from the facility, and disable the ports where they can be attached
to the computers there. ...Research
Triangle Software profile,
Storage Security,
article:- the
Dangers of Removable Storage Media
Kanguru Pawprints USB Flash
MILLIS, Mass - November
7, 2006 - Kanguru Solutions announces the release of the Kanguru Bio
Slider II, their new and improved USB 2.0 secure flash drive made complete with
biometric fingerprint technology.
The Kanguru Bio Slider II has
taken the hassle out of remembering passwords in order to keep your information
secure by using a biometric sensor that will recognize your fingerprint. Since
an individual fingerprint or thumbprint is the password, the password to your
secure drive can never be stolen, forged, or forgotten! It offers storage
capacities ranging from 256MB up to 4GB, connects via
USB and operates on
Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP.
...Kanguru
Solutions profile, Storage
Security, Squeak!
- Animal Brands and Metaphors in the Storage Market
Removable Hard Disks Get Inbuilt Fingerprint
Protection
SAN
JOSE, Calif. - October 11, 2006 - Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and
UPEK, Inc. today introduced a reference design to protect data on
external hard disk drives by adding biometric security via fingerprint
recognition technology.
The reference design delivers the
industry's strongest security by authenticating fingerprint matches on-board the
external hard disk
system instead of on the PC, ensuring no data is passed between the HDD
and PC until a match has occurred. The new CY4661 reference design uses UPEK's
TouchStrip fingerprint
authentication solution along with Cypress's USB controller to address the
growing need for secure personal information and enterprise data on portable
drives.
The reference design enables manufacturers of HDDs to add biometric
security that only allows those with a registered fingerprint to access data on
the drives. It features match-on-chip, hardware-based authentication for the
strongest data and privacy protection available.
...Cypress profile,
...UPEK
storage chips,
Storage Security
Thumbs Up for Mainframe Disk Sanitizer from Down
Under
Little Falls,
NJ - September 5, 2006 - Innovation Data Processing, today announced
that its FDRERASE for the IBM z/OS environment has earned a place on
the Australian Defense Signals Directorate Approved Products List as a Media
Sanitisation product with a conformance claim of EAL2+.
"You
expect Defense and National Security agencies to have strict rules," said
Thomas J. Meehan, Innovation's Vice President of Advance Technology. "FDRERASE
today, is the only DSD certified solution available for securely erasing disks
in z/OS environments. ...because of this FDRERASE is especially popular with
banks, card payment service providers, educational institutions, financial
intuitions, government agencies, hospitals and insurance companies all of which
have legislated Personal Identity Information Protection obligations, to
securely erase data when leaving a DR site or disposing of disk storage systems."
...Innovation Data
Processing profile , Storage
Security, Disk
Sanitizers
STMicroelectronics Has Secure Fast Flash for
Automotive Market
Geneva -
August 30,2006 - STMicroelectronics today announced a new and enhanced
version of its 32-Mbit Flash memory chip that is intended specifically for the
automotive market.
The new device uses a state-of-the-art
architecture to reduce access times to as low as 45nsec over the full automotive
temperature range (-40 degrees C to +125 degrees C for the packaged device, -40
degrees C to +150 degrees C in bare die form). The M58BW32F features a wide
32-bit data bus and operates on a nominal 3.3V memory core supply. For
security, each die
embeds a unique device ID to allow the use of cryptographic algorithms to
protect against illegal software modifications. Pricing for the M58BW32F is
US$5.50 per device.
...STMicroelectronics
profile, Flash Storage
SiliconSystems Article Outlines New Markets
Enabled by Secure Drives
Editor:-
July 5, 2006 - SiliconSystems has published a white paper which
describes new applications made possible by its recently announced SiliconDrive
Secure disks.
The features in the new disks such as- read / write
access zoning, fast disk
sanitization (1Gbyte / sec), password protected areas and the ability to
render data unreadable except by the original system on which it was created -
will enable a new class of products and market opportunities to be created which
were not hitherto economic or technically viable. Examples of how the new
features can be used in embedded products are noted for the voicemail, gaming
and point of sale terminals. But the article will trigger ideas for new
applications in a wide range of industries. ...read
the article (pdf),
...SiliconSystems
profile, Storage
Security | |
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Disklabs Computer
Forensics Experts
at Disklabs are able to retrieve incriminating
evidence (or prove innocence) to prosecution
and defence clients.
Disklabs can provide full
email analysis, RAID forensics, mobile phone
and server forensics.
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Learn How
to Trust Your Storage Drives - article by the Trusted Computing Group
How
much can you trust the security of data on your storage drives?
Snugly nestling in a RAID
system in your datacenter - maybe. Now what about when those self same
drives are in some one else's mitts - because they've been replaced, sold or
stolen?
The Trusted Computing Group has been working with
storage manufacturers
and other industry trade bodies
to create a standard model and framework for extending security into the storage
drive - using extensions of the
SCSI and ATA command sets
- and by extending the features originally designed for internal error logging.
Although at an early stage, readers may be interested in reading and commenting
(to TCG) on the draft document - which is published here as part of their
market liaison exercise. ...read the article,
...Trusted Computing Group
profile, Storage
Security, disk
sanitizers | |
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Sanitization
Methods for Cleaning Up Hard Disk Drives - article by Intelligent Computer
Solutions
Removing the data on old unwanted disk drives has
become a concern for all users. In 2005
Pointsec found that
they were able to read 7 out of 10 hard-drives bought over the Internet
at auctions such as eBay, for less than the cost of a McDonald's meal, all of
which had "supposedly" been "wiped-clean" or "re-formatted".
This article reviews the various methods available to sanitize hard disks along
with the advantages and disadvantages in each case....read the article,
...Intelligent Computer
Solutions profile,
disk sanitizers | |
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Privacy
and Security Regulations - How Do they Impact Storage Systems? - article by
ASNP
What are the legal regulations covering the type of
storage system, backup and disaster recovery and encryption mandated for
companies operating in the US?
This article answers those questions
and is a sound starting point for anyone having the duty of care and
responsibility for their corporate data. Because regulations change so quickly
it's worth considering the impact of these best practises on your own
organisation even if you think you are currently outside the scope of these
laws. That will reduce the level of panic when they creep up on you. ...read the article,,
...ASNP profile,
Backup software,
Disk to disk backup,
Optical Storage Libraries,
Tape libraries,
Web based storage | |
| . |
| Storage Security - article |
In the
late 1980's I noticed that my defense and intelligence customers would, whenever
they left their offices, unplug the removable disk shuttles from their
workstations and lock them in solid filing cabinets which were built like safes
with two heavy duty padlocks. Since there were armed guards on the gates going
into those establishments, and electrified fences I knew they weren't worried
about burglars.
I remember joking once to a customer at GCHQ (that's the UK equivalent
of the NSA - if you're not familiar with Tom Clancy settings) that my own
insurance company insisted on having window locks on all the ground floor
windows of my house and that they didn't seem to have any... surely a weak
point since anyone could just hop in.
...read the article,
STORAGE Security | |
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SSL VPN
Gateways: A New Approach to Secure Remote Access - article by Netilla Networks
Security
is the cornerstone of any remote-access implementation; it is axiomatic that
good security is easily managed security. SSL VPN appliances can quickly
integrate into the network, providing companies with a rapid-deployment solution
without modifications or interruptions to existing application servers and
security mechanisms.
...read the
article,
...Netilla Networks profile,
Storage Security,
RAID controller cards | |
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Increasing
Flash Solid State Disk Reliability - article by SiliconSystems
Solid
state disks, based on flash technology, have greatly improved in performance in
recent years and now compete head to head with RAM based accelerator systems.
Flash also has significant advatanges in servers compared to RAM SSDs due to low
power consumption.
But if you think that all solid state disks which
use flash are equally reliable and enduring then think again.
That's
a bit like saying that a Mercedes 300SL sports coupe is as tough as a Tiger
tank because both were made in Germany and both are built out of metal. But as
Oddball (Donald Sutherland) says in the movie
Kelly's
Heroes "I ain't messing with no Tigers."
This article
by SiliconSystems, shows how their patented architecture cleverly manages the
wear out mechanisms inherent in all flash media to deliver a disk lifetime that
is about 4 times greater than of other enterprise flash products and upto 100
times greater than intrinsic flash memory. ...read the article,
...SiliconSystems
profile, Solid state disks | |
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the
Dangers of Removable Storage Media - article by Pointsec
In
the early
James
Bond films of the 1960s, viewers were introduced to an array of implausible
(at the time) portable high tech spy gadgets. Nowadays we know from our own
everyday experience that something the size of a cigarette lighter can actually
be a video camera with its own wireless internet access.
The
proliferation of miniature high capacity storage devices creates a serious
problem for commercial and national security. This article provides an up to
date picture of the intrinsic dangers posed by current removable storage
technologies. ...read
the article, ...Pointsec
profile, Security,
Removable Storage | | | |
