Applied Logic Launches OS/400 Encryption Utility

Published: January 23, 2007

by Alex Woodie

An affordable OS/400 encryption solution was launched last week by Applied Logic Software, an Oregon-based developer of several IBM midrange utilities. With Pro/Encrypt 1.4, i5/OS and OS/400 shops gain the capability to encrypt DB2/400 data, thereby paving the way toward compliance with new laws, while making it more unlikely that sensitive data falls into the wrong hands.

You can scarcely open your e-mail inbox these days without reading of the latest data breech. Ten million people here, 75,000 people there, another 50 million people there--you can't help but wonder what company identity thieves are going to target next, and whether you will be their next victim.

As somebody involved in iSeries or System i operations or administrations, you have the power and the responsibility to ensure that your customer data is kept private and secure. Your company has made a wise decision in relying on the IBM iSeries line of servers to run your business applications and maintain a secure data repository. But in this increasingly interconnected world, that just isn't good enough.

To that end, Applied Logic is now selling Pro/Encrypt, a new encryption solution it developed. With a starting price of $895, it might be the least expensive i5/OS encryption solution on the market.

Pro/Encrypt enables users to encrypt individual files, groups of files, or entire libraries using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-, 192-, or 256-bit encryption. Authorized users can then decrypt the data using either a symmetric key or pass phrase.

Users can interact with Pro-Encrypt through a green-screen menu, which is "intuitive and easy to use," according to Applied Logic. Users can encrypt or decrypt files or libraries individually, or set the command to run in batch. The encryption and decryption commands can also be triggered automatically by other jobs.

While it may not offer features you'd find on higher-end offerings--such as field-level encryption or support for IFS files-- Pro/Encrypt does give users the capability to protect disk- or tape-based backups, and to protect data being transferred offsite via FTP. These are probably the most important features to smaller OS/400 shops that are just looking for a level of protection against accidental data disclosure, according to Bryan Schaap director of sales and marketing for Applied Logic.

"We have designed Pro/Encrypt to be extremely easy to use with the core functions most businesses need--namely the ability to easily encrypt their backups so that a lost or stolen tape won't become a disaster, and the ability to encrypt individual files or groups of files before transferring or transporting them to another location," Schaap says. "For some customers, more comprehensive solutions with all of the bells and whistles may be more desirable . . . But many of the customers we work with are focused on specific core needs and are looking for the best value proposition."

Data encryption has practically become a requirement for larger companies. Companies in the retail business are required to encrypt data through the Payment Card Industry (PCI) and Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) standards; companies handling medical data must meet the security and privacy requirements of HIPAA; while companies doing business in California must abide by the "strong encryption" requirements of that state's Privacy Notification Act (SB1386). Many other states have also followed suite. In each case, Pro/Encrypt meets these industry requirements, Schaap says.

Pro/Encrypt version 1.4 is available now. Users can purchase a restricted license for $895, or an unlimited license for $1,695 per LPAR. For more information and free trials, visit www.alcsoftware.com.

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