- Customer Profile: Software vendor; 3,600 employees in 70 countries; publicly traded
- Goals: Protecting confidential data on laptops and in email
- Solution: PGP® Encryption Platform: PGP® Desktop Email, PGP® Whole Disk Encryption, PGP Universal™ Server
- Implementation: According to plan; deployed by PGP® Professional Services
- Benefits: Security; lower costs due to central administration
Software AG protects valuable information on laptops and in email with the PGP Encryption Platform.
Software AG’s industry-leading product portfolio includes best-in-class solutions for managing data, enabling service oriented architecture, and improving business processes. By combining proven technology with industry expertise and best practices, our customers improve and differentiate their businesses – faster. Software AG has more than 38 years of global IT experience and about 3,600 employees serving customers in 70 countries. The company is headquartered in Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE 0003304002 / SOW). Software AG posted total revenues of €621 million in 2007 (IFRS, unaudited).
Software AG provides its customers a competitive advantage by facilitating quick and easy integration of existing IT systems, a prerequisite for flexible, customizable business processes. More than 4,000 customers worldwide rely on Software AG technology for their mission-critical systems. Therefore, the company recognizes that protecting customers' confidential data is equally important to protecting its proprietary information.
Information security for laptops. Inherently, laptops are highly portable and are therefore more likely to be lost or stolen. If a laptop is lost due to carelessness or theft at an airport or from a car break-in, for example, minimizing the loss to the value of the hardware alone is crucial to Software AG. "Our most valuable asset is the data on a laptop, not the hardware," explains Dr. Dirk Ventur, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Head of Global Support of Software AG and originator of the hard disk encryption project. “If our confidential data or that of our clients lands in the wrong hands, the damage can be enormous. We had to face this risk and find an effective solution."
Expanding information security. Software AG has been using PGP® Desktop Email since 1998 to secure confidential email traffic internally. For example, the Human Resource Department could securely send confidential information to managers or team leaders while prevent third parties from reading the messages.
The goal of the new security project was to complement the company’s email security by introducing hard disk encryption for all corporate laptops and integrating it into the existing infrastructure. This goal was a high priority because Software AG was equipping all managers and team leaders in Germany with laptops, each of which contained a significant amount of highly confidential data.
Olaf Orzel, Manager User Help Desk at Software AG, was involved in the implementation of the security project. Orzel had already had a positive experience with PGP® encryption from using secure email in the past, so he simply added a license key to enable hard disk encryption in his existing PGP® client software. "PGP Corporation was the only software developer that was able to offer integrated email and hard disk encryption using the same client," reports Ventur. "As a result, our users weren’t required to learn a new product."
Central security management. "We save time and money by efficiently managing multiple security applications with PGP Universal Server instead of using individual products," says Ventur. To ensure maximum availability, Software AG operates a cluster of two PGP Universal Servers, one in each data center.
Secure access. According to Ventur, "In case of emergency, Software AG has access to encrypted email and hard disks, an important function that was best implemented by PGP Corporation." PGP Universal Server provides optional corporate access to encrypted data across managed applications via patented PGP Additional Decryption Key (ADK) technology. If an employee leaves the company or forgets the passphrase, PGP Universal Server also ensures Software AG can reliably decrypt laptop hard disks when required by security policy or regulatory mandate. Such access is logged for auditing purposes on PGP Universal Server.
Effective support. Software AG’s unique IT environment initially presented a few deployment challenges, which were quickly resolved. "PGP® Support did a great job. PGP Corporation contacted the other software developer directly and was able to resolve the problem without involving us,” Ventur explains
The Results
The deployment of PGP Desktop Email and PGP Whole Disk Encryption on all laptops issued to Software AG management and team leaders in Germany is being finalized. The company has already started further roll-outs in Spain and the United States.
High acceptance. The company’s employees recognize the importance of protecting confidential enterprise and customer data. "The PGP® solution works very well and its acceptance among laptop users is high. We are convinced by the product’s consistent functionality," says Orzel.
Easy to use. Initial encryption of a hard disk takes about 2 hours, during which the user can continue working as normal. "We have only one or two inquiries each month from users upgrading to the new solution," says Orzel. "For new users, we simply set up the system and it runs automatically, according to policy."
Expanded user base. After Software AG’s acquisition of webMethods, Inc., a leading business integration and optimization software company, managers at webMethods quickly voiced a demand for enterprise data protection, a request that Orzel was quick to fulfill: “We already had all systems and policies in place, so we just sent them a prepackaged setup file. All they had to do was double-click.”
Software AG has also started deploying the solution in the United States and Spain. "The next logical step is to expand the use of PGP software to managers at our international sites," says Ventur.
By using PGP Desktop Email and PGP Whole Disk Encryption, Software AG has drastically reduced the negative effects of possible laptop loss or theft both for itself and for its customers. "Just think about what would happen if confidential data on an unencrypted laptop were to fall into the wrong hands," says Orzel. "With PGP Whole Disk Encryption, Software AG ensures that only authorized employees can access the data on a hard disk."
Integrated security. Ventur thinks the company made the right choice. "With PGP Desktop Email and PGP Whole Disk Encryption, we now have a complete security solution featuring central management of email and hard disk encryption that is seamlessly integrated into the overall infrastructure and transparent for users." |
