Security

The increase on the reliance of electronic forms of data storage means the amounts of data is increasing at a rapid rate. As the less expensive option, the majority of this information is backed up to tape.

Restricted gateways using of password protected areas to ensure that only those who "need to know" have access to data and protecting back up runs that need to access to all data areas with a software security device to ensure that unauthorised users cannot get through the "back door" to the system, is regarded as adequate protection within a controlled storage environment.

However, once the data is written to tape all this security is lost. This is the time when stored data is at its most vulnerable to theft and interference. The simple plain data stored on tape can be easily removed or “borrowed” to be duplicated and read on another system, regardless of internal and external safeguards.

The only real secure method of protecting information stored on tape is to encrypt the data.

Part of Olympic Support’s excellent portfolio of service is the supply and installation of a hardware encryption unit that sits invisibly inline between the storage array or server and the tape library. This unit compresses then encrypts the data using dual DES3 technology without any noticeable reduction in speed.

The encryption units are totally platform independent and require no changes to either hardware or software on the host system. Automatically taking the address of the tape drive to which it is connected, the unit responds to the system at that ID only. Each device supplied by Exquip has its own encryption key produced from two separate parts; the user enters their own key using the supplied GUI program or via a standard dumb terminal, and this is used with a customer unique internal code chip to produce the final key.

• Hardware encryption of information as it is moved on to tapes
• Simple to deploy SCSi in and SCSi out
• Dual DES and dual DES3 encryption modes
• Transparent to back up application and all hardware

For more information or to talk direct to an Olympic Support Account Manager please contact us on 0870 5151515