Keeping stored data safe within company walls

BECU, Washington state's largest credit union, used to keep its stored data locked down using an appliance to encrypt data before it was stored to tape. But when it had the opportunity to upgrade storage equipment, the company chose a simpler, cheaper and perhaps more secure option -- an application that encrypts tapes in the tape library.

The appliance "was the best solution at the time," says Kathryn Antonetti, IT systems and security manager at Tukwila-based BECU, a not-for-profit financial cooperative with assets of more than US$8.5 billion. "Now encryption is being offered at virtually every layer." The switch eliminated maintenance and training costs for the appliance, and other headaches. "I had [three vendors] pointing fingers at each other" when the system had problems, she adds.

Protecting stored information is the next wave in data security. "We're starting to see more emphasis on data at rest," says Robert Rosen, former president of IBM user group Share and CIO at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Md. "It's kind of a no-brainer. If you've done it, your [data is] protected and you don't have to worry about it."

As companies upgrade their storage equipment, many are taking advantage of technological advances such as tape drive encryption, tape library encryption and enhancements in the way encryption keys are managed. There has also been progress in adopting the disk and tape encryption specifications of the IEEE P1619 standard, says James Damoulakis, chief technology officer at storage services provider GlassHouse Technologies Inc. "Still, it's fair to say that [storage security] has lost some momentum " because of policy and process limitations, says Damoulakis, who is a Computerworld columnist.

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