System builders have been urged to cash in on heightened security concerns with two new security technologies aimed at business and consumer PC users.

UK-based manufacturer and distributor Stonewood has launched Eclypt, a range of encrypted hard drives that system builders and resellers can offer computer users in the business and consumer sectors.

The vendor has claimed that the products offer levels of security that were previously only available to government agents and large medical and financial institutions.

There is a demand for increased security at all levels, argued Grant Gutteridge, sales director at Stonewood. Sales will be driven by the push towards remote and mobile working, which are creating a need for security products, he said.
“Unlike software-based encryption solutions, hard drives are tamper proof and will protect all data at rest, even if the device is stolen or lost,” Gutteridge added.

However, Volker Scheidemann, head of marketing and product
management at Applied Security, agreed that there will be increasing demand for security, but not necessarily from a hardware system.

Applied Security is hunting for UK reseller partners for its new FideAS enterprise file encryption solution to protect and secure access to sensitive data on fileservers, desktops, laptops and storage devices.

“I do not see what is so special about an encrypted hard disk,” said Scheidemann. “The only differences between software-based solutions such as GuardianEdge and these encrypted disks might be that the encryption software is pre-installed on the hard drives or there is some crypto-chip implemented in the drive’s hardware. I do not see why any of these possibilities would be better than active software solutions.”

Applied Security is seeking VARs that put more emphasis on the dangers of connecting to the internet.
“Hard-disk encryption only protects against loss or theft of the laptop, nothing more, nothing less,” said Scheidemann. “It does not protect you when the laptop is connected to a network, nor does it allow users to securely share documents within workgroups.”

Frank Schlottke, chief executive at Applied Security, said: “When HSBC lost data it could have been protected if it had been encrypted. There is a great opportunity for resellers to exploit the growing interest and demand for simple and effective encryption solutions.”