WinMagic
Data Encryption in the Cloud

Winding our clocks by a few decades, the big thing back then was the simple ability to encrypt data. A lot has changed since the days of complex algorithms written to secure data; today’s challenge is not the encryption per se, but the way to effectively and equally important, to seamlessly manage different devices for encryption, as the complexity of the IT environment increases.

WinMagic, a leader and innovator in data security for the past 20 years recognizes the new challenge and— with the marketplace evolving towards cloud—seeks to provide and transfer sophisticated security solutions to this new arena. As Mark Hickman, COO at WinMagic says: “We are now entering into the cloud space. As our customers move towards that trend, we want to enable them to secure their data when it’s no longer on their network, but in the cloud.” The way to do so is via the combination of EFSS and CloudVM solutions that WinMagic brings to the table. Where EFSS offers the ability to secure files on the network, the new SecureDoc CloudVM product virtualizes a public, private or hybrid environment and gives users full, centralized control over it.

“You’re only strong as your weakest link,” Mark Hickman states, and the WinMagic solution offers multiple layers of data protection. The first line of defense is pre-boot, before any data is even touched. That way, WinMagic ensures that the user experience is in no way impaired by the encryption system, making it seamless. Once on the network, through the process of file and folder protection, data is only shown to those with appropriate authentication for access, invisible to those without clearance. Moving on to the virtualized cloud area, WinMagic allows organizations to protect their private clouds and transfer that protection to public clouds as well. Because, in Hickman’s words: “when the data leaves their network, people want to ensure that they are the only ones with the key to unlock it.”

When the data leaves their network, people want to ensure that they are the only ones with the key to unlock it

In Hickman’s view, the freedom to choose one’s preferred type of encryption is paramount, and WinMagic’s solution delivers on that. With a focus on managing and operating different types of encryption from one central point, WinMagic is an ideal solution for IoT with its different endpoints running on different operating systems. Another example would be the healthcare environment, where consistent data access across a multitude of endpoints needs to be user-based, rather than device-based.

WinMagic’s customers are a plenty; ranging from small-firm lawyers to global technology companies, financial services and all the way to nuclear labs. The company recognizes the specific needs of each organization, seeking the best possible data protection solution for their unique environment. A pioneer in the field of data encryption for two decades now, WinMagic has a wide range of choice partners in the IT spectrum—RSA and Intel among them. Coming a long way from the infancy days of data encryption, WinMagic looks ahead into the future, as cloud and IoT present new and exciting challenges for the booming industry. Discussing the future of WinMagic, Mark Hickman stated that the company’s attention will focus on these emerging, fast-growing marketplaces. “Our vision as a company is intelligent management for everything encryption. We have been in the endpoint business for quite a while and we will continue to innovate and lead in that space.”