Seagate aims to protect more businesses and consumers from data breaches

Today at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, CA, Seagate announced they have shipped their 1 Millionth hard drive with Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) technology. The big drivers to this success, according to Seagate’s press release include that Seagate now has…

6 server and storage OEMs on board offering solutions with SED
3 big laptop OEMs offering SED options
8 ISVs partnerships secured for SED
FIPS-140-2 certification across enterprise and laptop products

These key partnerships and certifications have enabled Seagate to triple the number of enterprise SED drives sold in each of the past 2 quarters, and double the number of laptop SED drives sold in each of the previous 3 years. Sounds like Seagate has some momentum, and it could not come at a better time.

One question that comes to mind is who is buying solutions with SED?

The short answer is everyone, because at some point, all hard drives are susceptible to a data breach. From stolen laptops, to smash and grab server theft, to data center hard drive retirement, nearly every business is exposed to the ramifications of stolen data. The US federal Government, as well as many states have laws on the books that specifically outline what companies must do in the event of a data breach, and the costs have skyrocketed. From direct costs like fines, legal fees, and customer notification, to indirect costs associated with restitution and audit, the total cost percompromised record has risen from $182 in 2006, to $204 in 2009. As society moves more and more digital, the threat of a breach becomes more evident. In 2010, there were 662 data breaches reported constituting over $16 Billion dollars in costs. Many of these costs came from lost business due to customer fallout. (Source: Ponemon Institute PGP 2009 Annual Study: Cost of a Data Breach)