Interest in encryption is growing, but few companies are doing it to the extent of media giant Bertelsmann, which has begun encrypting the computer work, including some e-mails, of its high-level executives to give them an extra measure of safety, according to CNN. Bertelsmann, whose far-flung holdings include publisher Random House, half of Sony, BMG Music Entertainment, and a slew of TV and publishing interests in Europe, has been troubled by strategy leaks.Encryption is one way to bolster defenses against leaks and corporate espionage, says Tom Goschutz, chief technology officer for the company's corporate center. Encryption scrambles words and data so they can only be read by the proper parties, which have passwords used to unscramble the material.
Bertelsmann is focussing on protecting the most sensitive group of people. That is, board members, top management, etc. This means a combination of encryption of email and files, and restricting access to data.
Goschultz adds: “What we're using today is of course e-mail encryption, and we use device encryption, what (Palo Alto, Calif.-based vendor PGP Corp.) calls Whole Disk. We are just starting to introduce NetShare, which is the file server encryption, because this is where files are created. The basic three functions -- e-mail, file server and device (PC/laptop hard disk) encryption -- were the most important parts for us. As a nice b-product, we are a heavy user of instant messaging, and PGP secures that.
