PGP updates Encryption Platform

(14/01/2008)

PGP Corporation has announced the availability of upgrades to its PGP Encryption Platform. Six updated PGP Encryption Platform–enabled applications will enhance management, policy, and reporting capabilities as encryption is deployed across an organization to protect data wherever it lives or goes.

Highlighted in this release as part of the PGP Encryption Platform’s new Secure Delivery functionality is PDF Messenger, which ensures secure email communication regardless of the recipient’s infrastructure. Proven by enterprises worldwide in pre-release testing, Secure Delivery functionality protects communications without requiring additional installed software. Recipients simply continue to use the software they already have installed—a mail client, a Web browser, or a standard PDF reader—to securely receive, read, and reply to email messages. Corporate policies are automatically and uniformly applied to outgoing messages to help ensure compliance.

"I'm impressed with the latest release of the PGP Encryption Platform, especially PGP Whole Disk Encryption. The upgrade was seamless, and the software provides great central reporting—important to our enterprise data protection strategy," says Alan Mitchell, IBM senior technical staff member, chief information officer Security & Privacy, with IBM Corporation. "The additional management controls, such as the ability to lock down certain features, allow us to phase our deployment in managed stages so users can get acquainted with their new capabilities and the potential for help desk calls is reduced."

Additionally, this PGP Encryption Platform update:
- Enables organisations to accelerate deployment of endpoint encryption with PGP Whole Disk Encryption, PGP NetShare, and PGP Desktop Email
- Increases the number of strong authentication options available for PGP customers from vendors such as Aladdin, Gemalto, and RSA Security
- Facilitates closer monitoring of deployments through new logging and reporting capabilities available with PGP Universal™ Server
- Allows administrators to enforce location-based data protection via PGP NetShare, extending an organization’s encryption policy beyond endpoints to network file shares
- Adds support via PGP Command Line for encrypting and digitally signing OpenPGP- and S/MIME-formatted email messages for additional flexibility in processing business transactions

“The new release of the PGP Encryption Platform provides new ways to secure email communications to more than 10,000 ACS partners and customers without requiring additional software—and recipients can even read messages when offline,” says Chris Leach, chief information security officer (CISO) at ACS, a Fortune 500 business process and IT outsourcing provider. “The new Secure Delivery functionality secures email all the way to the recipient, protecting critical data and improving end-user and IT operational efficiency.”

“Enterprises are looking for encryption solutions to protect data throughout the enterprise,” said Marc Suttle, deployment engineer at ANI Direct, a leading security solutions provider. “Our customers are excited about the new management, policy, and reporting capabilities in this PGP Encryption Platform release. We’ve performed an exhaustive evaluation of the new release and know it’s ready to cost-effectively secure enterprise data.”

This release comes at a time when organizations are looking to reduce the risk of a potential data breach as well as the associated costs—up to $197/record compromised according to the latest research from the Ponemon Institute.

“This new release of six PGP Encryption Platform–enabled applications continues our commitment to making encryption technology more manageable, deployable, and useable while continuing to lower the total cost to the enterprise,” said Phil Dunkelberger, president and CEO of PGP Corporation. “As the rising cost of data breaches illustrates, enterprises now need to defend their data faster and more broadly, reduce ongoing management costs, and adapt to evolving reporting needs. This new release has already been evaluated and proven via in-depth testing by leading enterprises and PGP channel partners, so we’re pleased to make it available to organizations worldwide as the foundation of an enterprise data protection strategy.”

PGP product licenses are based on the encryption applications customers select and the management tools they use. Customer options range from a single seat of a single encryption application to multiple seats of a single application with central management server or to a mix-and-match combination of encryption applications all managed by the same server. English versions of all products are available immediately worldwide from PGP resellers and the PGP website. German and Japanese localised versions will be available at the beginning of February 2008.

Related topics:  Data management and data security   Encryption 

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