Cisco, RSA Buddy Up to Secure Data

Are two heads better than one to solve computer security challenges? Cisco Systems  and EMC’s  security division RSA are giving it try with a deal to encrypt customers’ confidential information.

The offering, designed to preserve the integrity of anything from credit card numbers to medical records, includes Cisco Storage Media Encryption (SME) fabric software and RSA Key Manager software.

SME encrypts data on disks, tapes and virtual tape libraries (VTL), while RSA Key Manager manages the deployment and operation of encryption software such as SME.

The pairing has plenty of market opportunities in the IT security sector, given the billowing numbers of lost, stolen or pilfered corporate data.

Alcatel-Lucent recently said it is missing a disk loaded with employee data. Last week, IBM said a third-party lost tapes containing dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses of employees.

The combined Cisco and RSA technologies will help customers encrypt data stored on various storage media, as well as any encryption keys in a storage area network. Encrypting data in the network fabric can help customers secure data on tapes and disks that lack native encryption capabilities.

Should tapes or disks be lost or stolen, the SME and Key Manager will keep data from prying eyes, a boon for companies concerned about meeting the batch of regulatory and privacy requirements. The technology will also support an open API for key management.

Cisco and RSA are just the latest vendors offering security products to keep corporate data fenced in.

Earlier this week, Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian, a networking card designed to lock in data on laptops, at the 2007 Interop networking show in Las Vegas.

In other partner news, Oracle today introduced its Oracle Information Appliance Foundation, a reference configuration that includes an Oracle database, Dell servers and EMC storage for data warehouses containing one terabyte  of data.

Designed as a building block for customers, the Foundation includes Oracle Database 10g, dual-core Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers running Linux, Emulex or QLogic Host Bus Adapters, Brocade four-gigabyte switches and one EMC CLARiiON CX-310 networked storage system.