Fujitsu Europe Limited
Fujitsu Develops HDD Security Technology Based On Opal SSC Standards
Creating more secure computing environments for a wide range of platforms
London, 28. January 2009 — Fujitsu Europe Limited today announced the development of new security technology that will enable its 2.5-inch encrypted hard disk drives (HDDs) to support the Opal Security Subsystem Class (Opal SSC). Opal SSC is a new storage security standard announced on January 27, 2009 by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG)(1), an international organisation involved in setting security standards for computing environments.
The TCG's Opal SSC specification has been adopted as an international standard with the aim of creating more secure IT environments. When used in combination with supporting application software, HDDs that support Opal SSC enable sophisticated security solutions for a wide range of computing platforms, including notebook PCs.
The TCG recently standardised the Opal SSC specification for advanced security solutions in computing environments. As an active member of the TCG, Fujitsu led the formulation of the standard, and has subsequently developed technology for Opal based 2.5-inch HDDs with encryption features.
The newly developed HDD security technology, when used in combination with application software supporting Opal SSC, will enable advanced security features such as pre-boot authentication and secure partition.
Pre-boot authentication performs user authentication when starting up the computer. Using an HDD that supports the Opal SSC standard allows for the use of advanced authentication techniques, such as biometric authentication or smart-card authentication, even before starting up Windows or other operating systems, making it possible to build an environment more secure than existing ones, which rely on password input via keyboard.
Secure partition is a technology enabling the HDD's storage to be partitioned into a number of secure storage regions. Each partition can be protected under its own encryption key, giving access to only the valid owner of partition and users given access by the owner. This allows, for example, for content and its licensing data to be stored and protected in separate partitions, so that different partitions can be used depending on the nature of the data stored, enabling more secure data management.
Fujitsu is working with many independent software vendors(2) to implement these functions, including McAfee, SECUDE, Wave Systems, and WinMagic.
Glossary & Notes:
- 1 Trusted Computing Group :
- An organisation whose goal is to establish and popularise industry-standard specifications for hardware and software needed to build a trusted computing platform.
- 2 Independent Software Vendors :
McAfee: http://www.mcafee.com
SECUDE: http://www.secude.com
Wave Systems: http://www.wave.com
WinMagic: http://www.winmagic.com
For more information:
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees
supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable
computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in
Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2008.
For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com
About Fujitsu Europe Limited
Operating in Europe/Middle East/Africa, Fujitsu Europe Limited is a market leading provider of document image scanners for
professional desktop, workgroup and high volume production environments; Enterprise SCSI, FCAL and SAS, and Mobile ATA and
SATA hard disk drives; high capacity external 2.5-inch drives; KVM devices including switches, CAT-5 extenders and pull-out
drawers; biometric authentication sensors as well as dot-matrix printers.
Established in the United Kingdom in 1981, Fujitsu Europe Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global electronics giant
Fujitsu Limited and has its head office in the UK as well as subsidiary offices in Germany, Italy and Spain. http://emea.fujitsu.com/felg
For more information, please see: http://emea.fujitsu.com/felg
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