Original URL: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/12/29/us_data_encryption_comp/
US.gov looks to crypto to plug data leak holes
Scrambling for safety
Posted in Software & Security, 29th December 2006 14:28 GMT
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Information security disclosure flaps resulting from lost laptops have prompted US Federal authorities to mandate the use of full disc encryption on government-owned computers.
The decision, guided by a presidential mandate (PDF (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2006/m06-16.pdf)) published in June, has led to a competition to see what products might be selected for the ultra-lucrative project. The deployment of full-disc encryption (http://www.full-disk-encryption.net/fde_govt.html) on hundreds of thousands of government computers will raise the profile of disc encryption technology as never before. The 90-day evaluation is due to to end in March but there's a pre-condition that competing products need to have already obtained FIP 140-2 certification.
Disk encryption vendors participating in the Contest include Seagate, Mobile Armor, Pointsec, SafeNet and Credant. More on the contest requirements and other related documents can be found here (http://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/ESC/FA8771-07-R-0001/Attachments.html). ®