Kingston Digitial announces USB security partnership with BlockMaster.
"Kingston has been looking at partnering with a firm that specializes in USB management software as our customers have expressed interest in secure USB management solutions for some time," said John Terpening, business manager, secure USB products, Kingston "After looking into several companies in that market, Kingston concluded that BlockMaster would be an optimal choice. We are confident that the partnership will facilitate the sharing and development of the necessary technology to provide USB products with advanced secure management to our corporate customers."
BlockMaster is well known for its USB security solutions, including the centralized management software, SafeConsole, which offers organizations the ability to remotely manage USB drives by resetting passwords, configuring password policy and activating audit for compliance procedures. With this partnership, Kingston will be offering it's customers a centrally manageable version of it's Data Traveler Vault - Privacy Edition utilizing BlockMaster's technology to provide complete control over USB drives.
"BlockMaster has been considering various strategies to extend the reach for our SafeConsole product in all markets and concluded, like Kingston, that partnering would be an effective approach," said Daniel Ostner, CEO, BlockMaster. "Kingston was on top of our list with their strong global presence. We are confident that the joint offering will bring great value and impact to the marketplace as it will make managed secure USB security, which is critical as workforces become more mobile and transport more corporate information outside the protection of the corporate network."
Future plans include Kingston rolling out a version of it's DataTraveler Vault - Privacy Edition that requires management by BlockMaster's SafeConsole server software to activate the drive. This product will be able to address the strictest security requirements of the market, ensuring that the drive will not work unless managed. The launch of this product is schduled for Q3 2010.
The partnership does not affect current available BlockMaster product offerings. As the partnership develops, BlockMaster will remain focused on the development and distribution of their SafeStick technology and the management platform SafeConsole; and Kingston will continue to focus on their core competency in this area, the manufacturing and distribution of secure USB drives.
Germany, Friday 18th December 2009
SYSS cracks hardware-encrypted 140-2 certified USB Flash Drives from Kingston, SanDisk and Verbatim.
Matthias Deeg, member of the SySS team has found a way to crack hardware-encrypted and FIPS-certified USB Flash Drives from the vendors SanDisk and Kingston.
Matthias research results are available in PDF here:
*NOTE*
SanDisk OEM their software to other vendors - Kingston, Verbatim, MXI,
PICO and others may be affected - we strongly recommend checking with
your supplier if you are in any doubt.
Sweden, Saturday 22nd August 2009
BlockMaster Security releases SafeStick Supersonic, Achieving the highest USB speed transfers is truly a technological arms
race. The name SuperSonic marks a new step in the development as a
barrier has been transcended pushing the possibilities of USB 2.0 to
the absolute limits.
SafeStick Magazine Reviews
SC Magazine - SafeConsole v3.3 released. New version includes conflicker & file blocker.
TechWorld - NHS to get upto 200,000 Encrypted USB sticks.
BlockMaster, a provider of secure removable data devices, today
announces a two-year exclusive contract to distribute over 100,000
SafeSticks to NHS hospitals across the UK. The SafeSticks will provide
complete security for all removable storage through military grade
hardware encryption, and will be distributed through seven public
sector procurement hubs.
West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust is one of over 100 UK hospitals
using SafeSticks to protect portable data. It also installed
BlockMaster’s management suite, SafeConsole,
to monitor activity on USB sticks six months ago. Other hospitals using
the SafeSticks include the George Elliot NHS Hospital Trust in
Warwickshire and the Aintree University Hospital NHS Trust.
The SafeSticks which have been installed by Softek, a leading IT
Security, Storage and Archiving Solutions distributor, will provide the
NHS with complete protection through mandatory password protection and
automatic hardware encryption and timer Lockdown functionality which
locks SafeStick if there is no user activity for a configurable period of time, preventing data loss if they are lost or stolen. SafeConsole
will provide users with full control, remote life-cycle management and
device enhancement, with features including remote password recovery,
customised password policy, audit for compliance, portable
authentication tokens and productivity tools.
Robert Howorth, Senior Technical Architect at West Suffolk Hospital
NHS Trust, comments: “We were faced with the constant challenge of
keeping our data safe, but also ensuring staff can work remotely to
increase efficiencies. The security of patient data is of paramount
importance to us, so we needed a device that could provide complete
protection against theft or loss. We also wanted the peace of mind that
devices could be centrally managed, locking down and wiping data should
a device become compromised. We have been delighted with SafeConsole
and SafeSticks so far as they are simple to use, which increases
adoption and provides reassurance that data is protected no matter
where it is.”
Daniel Östner, CEO at BlockMaster comments: “The number of unsecure
USB sticks lost each year is a problem we cannot sweep under the
carpet. We need to be proactive with USB security and not wait for a
breach to happen until we think about it.
“It’s fantastic news to see that the NHS is leading the way with USB
security. The introduction of best-practice and diligence by
organisations will protect sensitive data on portable devices and
prevent embarrassing, as well as costly data breaches.”
Mike Bienvenu, Technical Director, Softek concludes, “Critical data
loss is on every IT Director’s mind, and with a frightening 66 per cent
of all USB sticks being lost or stolen, data stored on memory sticks
simply has to be encrypted - the challenge has been achieving this
quickly and easily without employee re-training or disruption.”
BlockMaster and Softek are continuing the roll-out of SafeSticks at
more NHS hospitals, local government departments, Education
establishments and corporates. In addition to this BlockMaster is
adding new features to SafeStick and SafeConsole, which will be announced at InfoSecurity Europe 2009.
US, Friday July 18th, SafeStick receives FIPS certification
FIPS 197 AES128 certification.
Today BlockMaster announces that its AES128 Bit SafeSticks have received FIPS certification, their AES 256 Bit SafeSticks are due to be certified in the none to distant future.
London, Tuesday July 15th 2008, Johan Söderström wrote:
OTP and secure storage in one!
With SafeStick FlashID employees will be able to access their online resources with secure two factor authentication using One Time Passwords (OTP) with the DeepNet FlashID solution combined with SafeSticks hardware encryption.
The OTP token is stored secure on the hardware encrypted storage drive. The token will not even be accessible until the user have entered their correct password.
The software will launch automatically upon insertion and prompt the user for their password. When the user has logged in they can access their OTP token with a single mouse click or choose to access their stored files with the same ease.
London, Monday July 14th 2008 , BlockMaster Announced:
BlockMaster AB today announced that its SafeStick® drives are now being deployed by the NHS as a reassurance that patient information is not compromised again.
The BBC reported on July 3 that a staff worker at NHS Lothian lost a memory stick containing sensitive patient information. The staff worker now faces disciplinary action, and a solution is actively being deployed within the Trust to ensure that information is not compromised again.
London, Monday May 26th 2008, BlockMaster appoints New Distributor:
Softek, a Distributor of IT Security, Archiving and Storage solutions are pleased to announce the UK Launch of SafeStick, a USB memory stick featuring 256bit encryption manufactured by BlockMaster.
Mike Bienvenu, Technical Director, Softek commented, "We are delighted to have been able to launch SafeStick in the UK at InfoSec 2008, and to be working with such an innovative company as BlockMaster."
"Critical data loss is on every IT Director's mind, and with a frightening 66% of all USB sticks being lost or stolen, data stored on memory sticks simply has to be encrypted - the challenge has been achieving this quickly and easily without employee re-training or disruption. SafeStick is the simple, easy to deploy answer."
"Featuring a tamperproof, onboard encryption chip using a military strength algorithm, and without any need for additional software, SafeStick encrypts data automatically on the fly, making it totally impossible for someone to access data stored on the memory stick without the correct password." continued Bienvenu.
Commenting on Softek's appointment Daniel Östner, Head of Sales & Marketing for BlockMaster said, "We are pleased to be working with Softek. After extensive evaluation we feel that the Distribution skills that Softek posess, and their extensive UK Reseller Channel reach means they are the perfect partner to help us grow our UK business".
~(SafeStick.Net 2008-2010)~
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SafeStick is a registered trademark of BlockMaster
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