Thales HSMs provide highest level of security assurance and cryptographic key management for database encryption

Weston, FL and Cambridge UK – 18 January 2011 – Thales, leader in information systems and communications security and a Microsoft Gold Partner, announces its nShield hardware security modules (HSMs) now provide comprehensive key management and hardware-based cryptography for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. Microsoft customers selecting Thales HSMs now benefit from additional security features including encryption key management and storage of master encryption keys in FIPS-validated hardware – a long-standing industry best practice – enabling organizations to meet compliance mandates such as PCI DSS and data breach notification acts.

“Companies and government agencies are under significant pressure to provide the highest level of security to protect information,” says Persio Afonso, director of SQL Server marketing at Microsoft Corp. “Some Microsoft customers operate in highly regulated industries and would benefit from adopting Thales HSMs to meet their specific industry security requirements. The integration of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 with Thales HSMs offers customers a strong hardware-backed security framework for their database security needs.”

Sensitive data stored in a database is protected against the escalating threats of data breaches by cyber criminals and intellectual property thieves wherever it resides, whether it is transferred to other media such as tape for backup or transported off site. Thales HSMs protect and manage the keys used for transparent data encryption (TDE) and cell-level encryption in FIPS-validated hardware – allowing organizations to take advantage of cost-effective key management across multiple servers. In addition the encryption keys are stored separate from the data itself as required by compliance mandates or corporate data security standards.  For high availability, Thales HSMs support SQL Server cluster and mirrored configurations.

“The integration of Thales HSMs with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 represents the latest advance in a longstanding partnership between Thales and Microsoft and satisfies many strategic objectives that organizations may have surrounding data security”, says Franck Greverie, Thales VP in charge of information technology security. “The opportunity to apply Thales’s market-leading key management technologies alongside Microsoft’s database encryption solution enables customers to safeguard their sensitive data without any application changes. Customers can now increase the overall security of their deployment helping meet today’s ever-evolving data threats and compliance mandates.”

Thales nShield connect and nShield Solo HSMs integrate with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 as well as with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 databases with TDE.

More information, including a white paper, on Thales HSMs and integration with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 is available at www.thalesesec.com/microsoft.

Visit our digital media centre www.keymanagementinsights.com for industry issues and comment.