Available later this month as a scalable solution across Quantum's leading portfolio of Scalar tape libraries, Q-EKM leverages industry-standard algorithms to securely manage encryption keys. Used in conjunction with the hardware-based encryption in LTO-4 tape drives, Q-EKM simply and cost-effectively centralises key management for backup, restore and disaster recovery processes.

According to data compiled by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, there have been hundreds of recorded data breaches over the past two-and-a-half years and almost 167 million records containing sensitive personal information have been compromised to-date. Incidents have forced businesses to bear the financial cost of mitigating potential damage to the impacted customers and employees and exposed them to legal risk. Also more than 30 US States have passed security laws requiring individuals to be notified of security breaches which can do great harm to a company's reputation.

Quantum recognises the complexities associated with securing and managing backup and disaster recovery processes across remote offices and data centres. Customers can replicate encrypted data between Quantum disk-based systems leveraging data de-duplication, securely manage and monitor their data protection environment, including Quantum systems, from a single location or console, and now Q-EKM joins this suite of solutions to enable a scalable and centralised management of tape encryption and keys.

Rob Clark, Quantum Senior Director of Product Lines, said: "As more and more of a company's data in transit is encrypted for regulatory compliance and off-site data protection, easily and affordably managing the security and integrity of encryption keys is paramount. Quantum is actively engaged in multiple data protection standards organisations and has demonstrated its industry leadership through a full range of security and management solutions leveraging these standard approaches. The Quantum Encryption Key Manager is the next step in delivering application-agnostic solutions that are easy to use and relieve administrative strain from the edge to core of the enterprise."

Q-EKM is a Java software program that generates, protects, stores and manages encryption keys. These keys are created using a sophisticated algorithm designed to ensure that each key is unique and unpredictable. The Q-EKM employs key construction based on the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) currently recommended by the U.S. government for use in protecting even classified data – virtually ensuring that each generated key is effectively protected from attack.

By generating encryption keys out of the data path or "out of band," Q-EKM does not impact backup performance and is application agnostic, ensuring easier and faster decryption of data from LTO-4 media. In contrast, solutions that utilise an application-based key manager may transmit "in band," utilising backup resources, or may require the same system that wrote the data to be used in the event of a restore. As a result, these solutions can be especially problematic in distributed enterprise environments running multiple backup applications and tape libraries.

Q-EKM software licences will be available later this month through Quantum and its network of channel and distribution partners. The solution is scalable across the company's LTO-4-equipped Scalar i500 and Scalar i2000 tape library portfolios. Once installed and configured, Q-EKM is entirely automated, handling the entire key management process and removing this administration burden from the customer.