McAfee takes self-encrypting PCs mainstream

McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator adds self-encrypting PC drives to its bag of security tricks

There’s a security industry axiom that says “It’s better to place the guard next to the jewels.”  With McAfeee’s latest move, it looks like the information security industry is taking that to heart by bringing self-encrypting disk drives (SED) into the mainstream mix of security infrastructure elements.

Unlike software-based encryption, SED drives like Seagate’s Momentus FDE drives encrypt everything written to a drive, at the drive.  This takes away potential ‘back doors’ or access points to PC data and encrypts at full speed.  It makes encryption hackproof and “free” from a performance and individual PC management standpoint.

What’s been lacking are the hooks in some enterprise management tools like McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) that simplify management of self-encrypting PCs.  Wave Systems, SECUDE International and others already support Momentus SED.

McAfee’s announcement makes SED an easy-to-add security tool for a much broader market.  Expect rapid growth in SED as more companies place more guards next to their digital crown jewels.