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Product News
Features and updates for WinMagic's line of products |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
WINMAGIC’S SECUREDOC: THE ONLY FULL-DISK ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE TO SUPPORT HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-12
WinMagic’s SecureDoc Also Supports The National Institute Of Standards And Technology’s FIPS 201
Mississauga, Ontario, April 7, 2005 - WinMagic Inc., the innovative leader in full-disk
encryption solutions and a member of the prestigious Smart Card Alliance (www.smartcardalliance.com), today announced that as
its SecureDoc full-disk encryption software already natively integrates with the vast majority of smart cards and Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI), it is the only encryption solution that can fully support both the Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 12 (HSPD-12) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) FIPS 201 standard.
HSPD-12, published by the White House in August, 2004, states that all Federal Government employees and contractors (including
contractor employees) must utilize smart card technology, containing their “digital identity” in the form of a PKI certificate,
in order to gain physical access to Federally-controlled facilities and logical access to Federally-controlled information systems.
As a result, HSPD-12, designed to enhance security, increase Government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal
privacy, must be implemented by October 26, 2005, and will have a major impact on how Federal employees and Government contractors
access both their workplace and their computer.
“If Federal agencies are pro-active, they will recognize the necessity to integrate other data-protection solutions, such as
full-disk encryption, with the mandated authentication technology, as this will not only protect sensitive data on computers
from both internal and external security breaches, but will also prevent unauthorized access from stolen laptops,” said Thi
Nguyen-Huu, CEO, WinMagic. “Having supported smart cards and PKI at pre-boot since 2001, WinMagic is the only encryption
provider with the experience necessary to fully integrate disk encryption software with smart cards and other identity tokens –
making it the obvious choice for Government agencies looking to maximize their investment in multi-factor authentication
technology and data security by implementing a fully-integrated security product suite.”
Having already been successfully integrated with existing smart card installations by various Government departments, including
the State Department; SecureDoc is the only full-disk encryption solution with a proven track record with the US Government.
Additionally, with NIST FIPS 201 explaining that the first-generation Personal Identity Verification PIV 1 card will be mostly
unchanged from the existing GSC-IS card, WinMagic’s experience and expertise is even more relevant for Federal agencies looking
to install a proven encryption solution. WinMagic’s extensive smart card focus is further underscored by its ability to support
a wide variety of hardware tokens at boot-time, including offerings from ActivCard, Aladdin, Axalto, Eutron, Gemplus, Giesecke &
Devrient, JUJO, Kobil, NTT, SafeNet, Siemens, Spyrus and Thales eSecurity.
WinMagic’s SecureDoc – The Only Full-Disk Encryption Software To Support HSPD-12
“Although it will not be mandatory for all Federal Government Agencies to utilize smart cards until October 26, 2005, some agencies
have already taken the proactive step of implementing multi-factor authentication technology – many in combination with SecureDoc
full-disk encryption software,” noted Nguyen-Huu. “For other agencies it may turn out to be a challenge to meet the directive
within the set time-frame, which will obviously impact the existing information technology environment and infrastructure, but
the fact that SecureDoc has successfully passed Government PKI interoperability tests, such as the Defense Information Systems
Agency’s PKI Interoperability Certification, highlights WinMagic’s smart card and PKI integration foresight – years prior to
HSPD 12,” continued Nguyen-Huu. “With the largest smartcard deployment to date, the Department of Defence’s experience with
the Common Access Card and PKI should substantially help other agencies looking to implement the FIPS 201 standard.”
Since full-disk encryption solutions encrypt the entire hard drive on PCs, including the Windows boot and system files, the Windows
drivers are not available to talk with the smartcard, which meant that it was previously impossible to combine full-disk encryption
and smart card technologies. WinMagic has partnered with most token and reader vendors to eliminate this extremely-complicated
problem by ensuring SecureDoc can communicate directly with these devices in its native low-level protocol. Due to the complex
integration issues facing encryption providers, WinMagic is confident that no other vendor will be able to develop similar
technology in the foreseeable future.
“WinMagic’s vision for the future of smart cards and PKI has assisted the company in closing numerous large sales involving both
customers and partners,” said Nguyen-Huu. “However, the short-term future involving FIPS 201 may have the largest impact on
WinMagic’s ability to deliver leading-edge technology,” Nguyen-Huu continued. “WinMagic believes that the imminent requirements
of HSPD-12 and FIPS 201 will establish WinMagic’s SecureDoc as the de-facto disk encryption standard by 2006.”
Built on the PKCS#11 standards, and featuring the AES 256-bit encryption algorithm, SecureDoc’s encryption design has already
achieved validations for Common Criteria and FIPS 140-1 Level 2, among others, while its FORTEZZA-based version is also the only
disk encryption software certified by the NSA to safeguard U.S. government secret information. For enterprise-wide deployment of
the SecureDoc client software, WinMagic offers its SecureDoc Enterprise Server. Enterprise Server can implement SecureDoc on an
unlimited number of PC’s, all centrally managed from one workstation.
About WinMagic Inc.
WinMagic Inc., is a Canadian company based in Mississauga, Ontario. Its SecureDoc line of products ensures protection of sensitive
information stored on desktops, laptops and PDA’s by employing authentication through passwords to hardware tokens, biometrics,
and PKI commencing right at pre-boot time. WinMagic’s award winning products fulfill the requirements of even the most security
conscious users by focusing on concrete security features, nevertheless still offering unparalleled flexibility. For more
information concerning WinMagic’s products or services, please visit call 1-888-879-5879 (toll free in North America), +1 905 502-7000
(worldwide), or email info@winmagic.com.
For additional information, please contact:
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