April 10, 2006

Encryption of PC Data Right on the PC Chip

Encrypting your data is the best way to ensure that if it is lost or stolen or hacked that it stays safe from prying eyes. Encrypted data does not mean that someone can't get to the "data" but it means the data is useless because it is encrypted.

IBM is coming out with technology to enable encryption to take place on your computer so it is encrypted "on the fly" as it moves. Of course if you print, display or email the data - it's open for anyone to view.

Cnet writes "There is a lot of concern about leakage of data," Charles Palmer, manager security and privacy at IBM, said in an interview. "If you have an architecture where that information is always encrypted, you go a long way to protect your data."

The hardwired security technology can be used for multiple purposes, not all of which necessarily serve the device owner. It can protect data when a person's computer or device is lost, stolen or hacked, for example. But content owners can also use it for enforcement of copyright, called digital rights management (DRM), which critics have called a scourge to user freedom.

Many notebooks are being built with finger-print readers, instead of passwords. However, if someone is able to get past the "locked" data they can read your data as it is not encrypted only secured with a password.

As you consider a security plan for your business you must really inventory your data and consider what's the worst that could happen if this data fell into the "wrong hands". Depending on your answer you can then plan accordingly for the proper security.

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