Irish Department of Defence Selects nCipher Security Solution to Protect Sensitive Data
Cambridge, UK – 11 July 2005 nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), a leading provider of cryptographic IT security solutions, today announced that the Irish Department of Defence has selected its SecureDBâ„? database encryption solution to protect military personnel records and sensitive inventory information. The Irish Department of Defence is using SecureDB in conjunction with nCipher’s nShield hardware security module (HSM) to protect these critical information assets.
“As we have transitioned from closed private networks to a more open IP-based infrastructure we identified the requirement for a highly secure database security solution that would work well within our existing application base, specifically integrating with those built around the Oracle E-Business Suite and our internally developed personnel management system,” said Commandant Mark Staunton (Applications Manager) of the Irish Defence Forces. “After an extensive review process we selected nCipher’s SecureDB which provides us with an off-the-shelf database encryption solution backed by the added security of nCipher’s nShield hardware security module. This flexible and cost-effective solution allows us to protect our most critical information with minimal degradation in performance and without the burden of resourcing in-house development tasks, both of which are issues often associated with deploying large-scale encryption within databases.”
SecureDB enables users to encrypt just the sensitive information in a company’s database, leaving non-sensitive information unencrypted. Selected data items can be protected not only from external attack but also from authorized database users without correct permissions. This ensures separation of duty between administration and security functions.
“Since the beginning of the year we have seen several high profile announcements from companies who have been required to publicly disclose the loss of confidential data due to theft or simply human error. The Irish Defence Forces and Department of Defence’s decision to deploy an encryption solution at the database level reflects an increasing trend among major organizations worldwide,” says Ciar??n Stapleton, sales director at nCipher. “nCipher’s SecureDB database encryption solution addresses exactly this kind of problem by providing additional levels of access control and selective encryption of only the information designated as being sensitive, directly within a variety of market leading databases.”
About SecureDB
SecureDB provides the ability to encrypt specific columns within a database – those identified as the most sensitive – avoiding the need to encrypt the entire database or file system.
In addition SecureDB enables a separation of duties where traditional database administrative duties are augmented with additional and logically separate security policy setting functions. The security administrator working through a centralized security console independently controls data access by administering decryption rights, the ability to unlock encrypted data, whereas the database administrator remains responsible for configuration and general access controls across the overall database. Through this approach even the database administrator may be restricted from accessing sensitive information in the clear unless authorized by the security administrator.
SecureDB supports “out of the box’ deployment of nCipher hardware security modules (HSMs) to provide a tamper-resistant hardware environment for the management of cryptographic keys and protection of sensitive applications. Independently certified to FIPS 140-2 level 3, the de facto security benchmark for cryptographic modules, nCipher HSMs can be deployed rapidly into most commercial server platforms and integrated with tailor-made cryptographic applications, creating a trusted hardware platform for critical security processes.
About The Irish Department of Defence
The Irish Department of Defence is one of the Irish Government Departments primarily concerned with ensuring the secure and stable environment necessary for economic growth and development. Its job is to ensure that the Defence Forces are in a position to carry out the roles assigned to them by Government. Maintaining a defence capacity related to security needs is an important expression of national sovereignty.
About nCipher
nCipher is a leading provider of cryptographic security, enabling our customers to meet the challenges of verifying identity, protecting data and complying with security regulations. nCipher’s solutions provide a unified approach to cryptographic management providing strict access controls and high assurance trusted processing, overcoming traditional issues of scalability, performance and weak platform security. The world’s leading organizations work with nCipher to protect security critical systems such as web site infrastructure, online banking and payment processing networks, PKI, web services, databases and digital rights management schemes.
nCipher is the winner of the Microsoft Security Solution of the Year award 2004. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:NCH) and is a member of the FTSE TechMARK and FTSE4Good indices with offices in Cambridge, UK; Boston, Washington, Hamburg and Tokyo. For more information on nCipher, visit www.ncipher.com