Device and Data Encryption

A recent survey by Check Point reported that during a six month period, some 54,874 mobile phones, 4,718 PDAs, 3,179 laptops and 923 USB sticks were left in the London's taxi cabs. Of course, these numbers cover just those reported lost.

All business and public sector organizations are now to a lesser or greater extent reliant on mobile technology and portable strorage devices.

The challenge is how to ensure the safety and integrity of data which is stored and transported on laptops, USB sticks, CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, smartphones, PDAs and other handheld devices.

Another study by the Ponemon Institute reported that 85% of survey respondents admitted that their businesses had suffered a data security breach. The average cost of a data breach was estimated at over £3 million when damage limitation exercises, loss or reputation and out of pocket expenses are taken into account.

The solution is to enforce security through both technical and behavioural measures including:

Laptop encryption: encrypting the entire hard drive of all your laptop computers so that only authorized users can gain access
Media encryption: ensuring that all data saved to portable devices such as USB keys and CDs or DVDs is encrypted by default
Device Control: monitoring and controlling the use of portable storage media in an intelligent way, that does not prevent their use as everyday business tools

In the UK, we are likely to see the introduction of US-style 'Data Breach Notification' law, which will mean that all companies which lose a device of any description which contains personal data would have to notify all customers immediately upon discovery of that breach.

The consequences for businesses suffering such breaches will go far beyond the regulatory fines and equipment replacement costs. The loss of customer confidence could seriously damage profit and shareholder value.

How can Metadigm solve your data leakage problems?

To find out more about our solutions and for independent guidance and advice on the solution you require, please call +44 (0)1763 268222 or email sales@metadigm.co.uk.

Metadigm partners include the following leading global security vendors:

	Check Point's end point security solutions include Full Disk Encryption for portable devices and Media Encryption for mitigating against data leakage. Find out more >
	Metadigm is an accredited Lumension partner and can supply and integrate the Sanctuary Device control technology for automated device encryption, monitoring and control of device usage. Find out more >