Iron Mountain Reiterates Call for Encrypting Backup Tapes; Recommends Appliance-based Solutions
Company Deploys Decru DataFort to Improve its Own Internal Data Protection Program
September 26, 2005
Boston, MA - Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM),
the world’s trusted partner for records management and data protection
services, today offers further advice to its off-site data protection
customers and other businesses that have not yet implemented encryption
for their backup tapes. Many companies are still searching for
solutions that balance the inherent conflict between the need to
protect private information on backup tapes and the requirements for
ensuring their business can recover in the event of a disaster.
Following an extensive analysis and evaluation of technologies geared
for large companies, Iron Mountain is now recommending appliance-based
encryption to its 40,000 off-site data protection customers as a
reliable means to secure private information stored on backup tapes
without compromising disaster recovery objectives.
In April, Iron Mountain Chairman and CEO Richard Reese issued the
industry’s first advisory recommending encryption to protect sensitive
data stored on backup tapes. The advisory explained the requirements of
the new privacy regulations with regard to lost backup tapes and noted
that encryption is the only effective means to protect data on portable
media. Reese urged Iron Mountain’s customers to find solutions that can
deliver encryption and meet the availability requirements for
enterprise disaster recovery. Now the Company is offering customers the
benefit of its encryption technology review process.
“We continue to advise on the criticality of tape encryption, but many
companies still have yet to implement encryption as part of the backup
process because it can add layers of complexity and increase the time
required to successfully complete the backup process,” noted Kevin
Roden, executive vice president and CIO of Iron Mountain. “This can
impede an organization’s ability to back up data in a timely manner,
and to recover data when it’s needed; for obvious reasons, this is
unacceptable. So we embarked on a significant analysis of methods and
technologies and concluded that for companies like ours,
appliance-based encryption is the best solution.”
There are several options for implementing encryption, including backup
software and application-based solutions that can balance disaster
recovery and privacy objectives. However, for large companies with
expanding volumes of information and shrinking backup windows, Iron
Mountain recommends an appliance-based approach for encrypting backup
tapes and other removable media. From a technology perspective,
encryption appliances deliver a high throughput, low impact
configuration, allow use of compression and require lower management
overhead. This means that businesses can secure private information
without compromising disaster recovery protection or making significant
changes to their current back-up processes. (For more information about
the different kinds of encryption methods, an Iron Mountain white paper
“Best Practices for Protecting Private Information on Backup Tapes” is
available on the Company’s website.)
Following an extensive review of the encryption technology market, Iron
Mountain selected Decru DataFort™ storage security appliances as an
enterprise encryption platform for its internally-generated backup
tapes. Advantages of the Decru solution include a market leadership
position, significant government and commercial implementations and the
ability to deploy an encryption solution in a very timely manner.
“We believe the Decru DataFort encryption appliance is an excellent
choice for encrypting backup tapes without compromising companies’
disaster recovery plans,” said Roden. “Our needs for high performance,
strong security, enterprise-wide key management, and ease of use are
similar to those of other large companies. The Decru solution stood out
as the clear leader in the field, and has allowed us to significantly
improve the security of our backup process. We recommend Decru to our
customers who face a similar encryption challenge.”
“Storage security has emerged as a high priority in the enterprise and
encrypting backup tapes represents an absolute minimum requirement,”
said Jon Oltsik, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. “We
applaud Iron Mountain for taking a leadership role helping its
customers solve this important challenge and for its selection of
Decru, which has very strong credentials in terms of customers,
partners and technology.”
About Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) helps
organizations around the world reduce the costs and risks associated
with information protection and storage. The Company offers
comprehensive records management and data protection solutions, along
with the expertise and experience to address complex information
challenges such as rising storage costs, litigation, regulatory
compliance and disaster recovery. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain is a
trusted partner to more than 90,000 corporate clients throughout North
America, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Rim. For more
information, visit the Company's Web site at www.ironmountain.com
Contact:
Ray Yeung
Brainerd Communicators
Phone: 212-739-6735
yeung@braincomm.com
Laura Sudnik
Public Relations
Iron Mountain
Phone: 617-535-2907
laura.sudnik@ironmountain.com