You Can Hold the Key to Security
The cost of a data security breach continues to rise. According to the Ponemon Institute, data security breach incidents now cost companies $197 per compromised record, including lost opportunities and reputation as well as legal, investigative, administrative and customer support expenses. Losses associated with customer churn and acquisition account for 65 percent of data security breach costs. Adding an encryption option to the backup process can significantly reduce these incidents.
IT managers are faced with the challenge of integrating encryption into their backup, recovery, and archive processes. This additional business requirement introduces another technical dimension to an already complex set of processes, leaving users with important questions to resolve:
- How will I add encryption without affecting the backup window?
- Will this change my backup processes and software environment?
- How will I manage the encryption process?
- Can I encrypt data being transported between sites, both via replication and on tapes?
Without the right approach and architecture, users will be forced to make painful tradeoffs to achieve data security and may be forced to settle for poor performance, hardware or software dependencies, and complex management.
Quantum understands the issues associated with encryption within backup, recovery, and archive. We offer encryption options for both our disk and tape solutions, giving customers the flexibility to choose what fits best with their business requirements. For disk-based backup, Quantum's DXi-Series incorporates de-duplication and fully-encrypted replication, allowing customers to securely link sites for enterprise-wide backup and disaster recovery. For tape systems, Quantum's Encryption Key Manager (Q-EKM) is available for Scalar i500 and Scalar i2000 tape libraries in conjunction with LTO-4 drives.
QUANTUM ENCRYPTION KEY MANAGER (Q-EKM) FOR SCALAR TAPE LIBRARIES
Quantum Encryption Key Manager (Q-EKM) is an easy-to-use solution for protecting valuable data at rest across the enterprise. It is easy to set up, integrates seamlessly into existing backup environments, and scales easily to meet changing demands. And with Q-EKM's "set and forget" design, the administrator doesn't have to worry about data encryption and key management.
Key Features:
- Provides native LTO-4 drive-based encryption – a cost-effective solution based upon the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 256-bit encryption recommended by the federal government for classified data.
- Operates out of the data path with no impact on performance or "same system" restore requirements.
- Protects, stores and manages encryption keys supporting multiple libraries in a centralized keystore.
More information on Quantum's Encryption Key Manager can be found in the whitepaper Encryption Key Management: A Technical White Paper
DATA ENCRYPTION WITH DXi-SERIES
Because many organizations use public data exchanges to supply WAN services between distributed sites and data transmitted between sites can take multiple paths from source to target, data de-duplication appliances need to offer encryption capabilities to ensure the security of data transmissions. In the case of DXi-Series appliances, all replicated data–both metadata and actual blocks of data–is encrypted at the source level using SHA-AES 128-bit encryption and decrypted at the target appliance. The SHA-AES security method is secure and fast and +employs standard algorithms published and certified by the US Government.
More information on the Dxi-Series Data De-duplication, Replication and Encryption please read our whitepaper entitled Data De-Duplication Background: A Technical White Paper
The bottom line is that the benefits of encrypting data are countless given the potential cost and damage that a data security breach can carry. IT Professionals must integrate a solid encryption process to protect this sensitive data throughout the datacenter.
If you have questions or if you would like more specific information about Quantum's encryption solutions or Q-EKM please visit our tape encryption solutions page, or send us an e-mail to request more information
