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PGP Portable

Portable, self-contained encryption for removable storage devices and optical media

Overview Technical Specifications FAQ Demos

Overview

With USB memory devices now able to store gigabytes of data and available in hundreds of different form factors, it’s no surprise that they have become a key way to exchange data with colleagues, partners, and even customers. The challenge is that their convenience also presents a security risk if one of these devices is lost or stolen. Many of the data breaches now being experienced by public and private enterprises have occurred because these small, convenient devices are dropped in a public setting or stolen from cars, briefcases and in some cases out of the offices of those using them.

PGP Whole Disk Encryption

Advantages of PGP® Portable

  • Protect any device or any media–Software-based encryption for any removable storage device or optical media. Patent-pending extension to validated and trusted AES 256-bit PGP® Virtual Disk technology.
  • Share, distribute, collaborate–Access encrypted data on both Microsoft® Windows and Apple® Mac OS X without installing additional software. Provides in-place viewing and editing without altering the native user experience.
  • Integrates easily with enterprise workflow–Provides support for automation and provisioning. Passphrase management and corporate access to data enable security and compliance without disrupting user productivity.

As a PGP® Platform –enabled application, PGP Portable is deployed using PGP Universal™ Server. The PGP Platform provides a strategic enterprise encryption framework for shared user management, policy, and provisioning that is automated across multiple, integrated encryption applications. The PGP Universal Server manages existing policies, users, keys, and configurations, which expedites deployment and policy enforcement.

Technical Specifications

There are two types of users of PGP® Portable: the user who creates a PGP Portable device or media containing secured data, and the user who does not have PGP® software but needs to access that secured data. You might also be both types of users: creating a PGP Portable that you can take and use on a computer at a customer's site, for example.

System Requirements

  • Windows XP x32 Professional and Home Edition
  • Windows XP x64 Professional x64 Edition
  • Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
  • Windows Vista (all 32 and 64 bit editions including Home editions)
  • Windows 2000 Professional (access only)
  • Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server (access only)
  • Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later  (access only)

Creating secure devices or media using PGP Portable

PGP Portable can be created on one of two targets:

  • A locally mounted removable device, such as a USB flash drive, that is no larger than 128 GB
  • A folder on a local drive, remote file share, or CD/DVD (including Blu-Ray)
  • No additional software installation is required to access PGP Portable removable devices or media. However, to create PGP Portable devices, a licensed version of PGP® client software version 9.9.1 or later for Windows, managed by a PGP Universal™ Server, must be installed on the system.
  • Removable USB devices, such as a flash drive, that are larger than 4 GB must be formatted as NTFS. NTFS drives are treated as read-only when accessed on Mac OS X systems (unless a third-party program, such as NTFS-3G for Mac OS X, is used to enable read-write access). PGP Portable Disks created on removable USB devices that are smaller than 4 GB are formatted as FAT32.

FAQ

What is PGP Portable and what does PGP Portable do?

PGP Portable is a software-based solution that provides organizations with convenience and security by securing data on any USB removable storage device or optical media, to securely distribute, share, use and collaborate without requiring users who access and modify this data to install additional software or have special administrative privileges. Data encrypted using PGP Portable stays encrypted. Once authenticated, data on read/write removable storage devices can be modified and saved in place securely, without requiring local file decryption or manual encryption steps allowing for easy, secure collaboration amongst users.

Does PGP Portable require PGP Universal Server to operate?

There are two aspects to consider: creation of PGP Portable-protected devices and using these devices. PGP Universal™ Server is required to create PGP Portable devices and media. However, anyone with a valid passphrase can access these secure devices, without requiring the installation of any software.

How does PGP Portable protect data?

PGP Portable is easily added on to PGP’s centrally managed full disk encryption, network file sharing and email protection solutions. An administrator or an end user can use PGP Portable to instantly encrypt any removable storage device (e.g., a USB thumb drive) or folder to write to optical media such as CDs, DVDs, etc. Users can easily add any files to these USB drives (or folder to be burned onto optical media) instantly securing them. These PGP Portable-secured devices can now be shared with users outside the organization, who may not necessarily have any PGP software. Data on these devices remains secure, and users with a valid passphrase can access these devices to view and modify the data, both on Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X. Users do not need to install any PGP software or have administrative privileges to access or modify data on PGP Portables-secured devices.

PGP Portable is ideal in situations such as those where users take their work home on USB drives, or where users copy files onto a USB thumb drive to overcome email attachment limits, or media containing sensitive corprorate data needs to be distributed in large numbers to the sales force, etc.

What devices does PGP Portable support?

PGP Portable can be created on a removable devices such as a USB flash drives and optical media such as CD/DVD (including Blu-Ray). Please see the Technical Specifications for more information.

Does PGP Portable support policy enforcement?

Yes. PGP Portable enforces keys and passphrase quality policy specified on PGP Universal™ Server. PGP Portable has the capability of enforcing a policy that ensures corporate access to data in the case of a disaster, disclosure, audit or similar event, by encrypting to additional keys including the secure, split recovery key, the patented PGP® ADK. These keys are easily specified using the “Master Key List” functionality of the PGP® client application. Although at this time there does not exist a capability to enforce USB drives to be encrypted using PGP Portable, PGP Whole Disk Encryption and PGP® Endpoint Device Control provide USB device encryption and access control capabilities.

Does PGP Portable support automation?

Yes. PGP Portable provides a command-line interface to support provisioning and automation.

Does PGP Portable have logging?

Yes. Every time a PGP Portable secure device/folder is created, the event is logged. This log is created on PGP Universal Server.

How does an administrator/user install PGP Portable to create PGP Portable disks/media? Are there any minimum requirements?

An administrator or user simply runs the PGP Portable MSI installation package on the systems that wish to create PGP Portable disks/media. This system must have PGP® client software version 9.9.1 or higher (PGP® Whole Disk Encryption/PGP® Desktop Email/PGP® NetShare) managed by PGP Universal™ Server.

Does PGP Portable support recovery?

Corporate access to data can be maintained using the split recovery key, PGP® ADK.

Can a disk already encrypted with PGP® Whole Disk Encryption be encrypted with PGP Portable?

Not at this time.

Is there any integration between PGP Endpoint Device Control and PGP Portable?

Not at this time.

Where can I find release notes and other product-related documentation?

Release Notes and Quick Start Guides are available at http://support.pgp.com/?faq=589. In addition, customers with a current support contract can download User, Administrator, and Programmer Guides from the same link.

PGP Portable Demos

PGP Portable




PGP® Portable: CD/DVD Media View
Increased data accountability and increasing IT complexity require a new approach to securing data. Customers, business partners, and regulatory bodies are requesting higher levels of security for sensitive information.





PGP® Portable: USB Memory Devices View
The most commonly used type of portable storage creates a new class of data breach vulnerability. PGP Portable secures the data on USB memory devices and protects the confidential information they contain.