Harvard’s University Information Systems Division: Security for confidential data on laptops and desktops

The Challenge

Harvard’s University Information Systems (UIS) provides the central IT infrastructure for Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The division wanted to avoid the security breaches that continue to concern the higher education community. A noted consumer organization recently stated that 30 percent of all reported security breaches in 2006 involved educational institutions. 

The Solution

Harvard's UIS has implemented the PGP® Encryption Platform to secure sensitive information in transit and storage. UIS will be deploying PGP® Whole Disk Encryption to protect data stored on its desktop and laptop computers and PGP Universal™ Server for centralized management of its encryption applications.

The PGP solution selected by Harvard's UIS is an increasingly popular deployment by universities and companies of all sizes. PGP Whole Disk Encryption provides strong security for intellectual property as well as student and faculty data, and PGP Universal Server, at the core of the PGP Encryption Platform, enables administrators and help desk staff to easily support end users. PGP Universal Server provides unified, Web-based administration for all PGP Encryption Platform–enabled applications, users, policies, provisioning, logging, and reporting through a single management console.

“PGP Corporation is pleased to provide Harvard’s University Information Systems with the ability to safeguard its data,” said Phillip Dunkelberger, president and CEO of PGP Corporation. “Our encryption technology continues to gain acceptance from leading universities because the confidential information stored on computers can literally affect lives if exposed. Now, students and faculty can protect their valuable content from loss or theft and university donors can have peace of mind that personal information, such as their account and Social Security numbers, is not exposed. We are proud to have Harvard’s University Information Systems as a customer.”

PGP Whole Disk Encryption. PGP Whole Disk Encryption protects intellectual property, customer data, and brand equity with transparent, full disk encryption that locks down a drive without changing user behavior or workflow. The application secures data from multiple threats with a single, centrally managed client, making theft or loss of a system or removable media far less damaging to a user or business. It also provides safe, single sign-on to Microsoft Windows through password synchronization, and is available for Mac OS X non-boot drives, enabling removable media to be encrypted and shared between users on different operating systems. 

The PGP Encryption Platform. The PGP Encryption Platform reduces the complexities of protecting business data by enabling organizations to deploy and manage multiple encryption applications cost-effectively from a single management console. Deployed with the first encryption application, the PGP Encryption Platform makes installing a separate or additional infrastructure unnecessary when the organization needs other encryption applications. The PGP Encryption Platform supports the broadest range of integrated applications to secure email, laptops, desktops, instant messaging (IM), PDAs, network storage, file transfers, automated processes, and backups.