Simple technology safeguards data up to 190 years

Companies and individuals worldwide suffer immeasurable damage when confidential information ends up in unauthorised hands because it wasn`t safeguarded. "Such unprotected or poorly safeguarded data has already resulted in huge international lawsuits and billions of rands` worth of damage," says Jans Wessels, Managing Director of DexGroup Informatix.

Now, at last, there is an infallible, affordable and user-friendly way in which to safeguard confidential, sensitive computer information that will be of inestimable value to individuals, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as large corporations - all thanks to innovative and ingenious South African technology. Data can now be completely secured, irrespective of whether it is sent by e-mail, via a network or just stored in a computer.

Until now, the electronic storage or transmission of sensitive data has always been prone to interception by unauthorised persons, despite a variety of available, albeit insufficient, safeguarding options.

Wessels says the new product, DexData Lock, is unique in its simplicity and because it is based on hitherto unprecedented threefold security. "In very simple terms, it works more or less like a bunch of keys and a padlock with which a trunk is locked, and to which only selected people (a user group) with `duplicate keys` have access. But the bunch of keys may contain a variety of different keys for a whole series of trunks, and only selected people will receive keys to unlock specific trunks," Wessels explains.

The security of the system depends not only on the strength of the `lock and trunk`, but also to a great extent on the safety of the key and how the key is protected from unauthorised use.

As opposed to most current security measures, the `key` is contained in a physical device (about the size of a normal car key). Without this device, no access to the protected data is possible. "Even if someone intercepts an electronically transmitted document, it will be useless because the intercepted data does not contain the key," Wessels says.

The device is protected by a password, which means that the `key` cannot be used by an unauthorised person. It can be safeguarded even further through the implementation of biometrics (fingerprint). "To be able to use the device," Wessels says, "your fingerprint has to correspond with the one stored in the DexData Lock as that of an authorised user."

Individual keys on the device are also protected by passwords and biometrics for added control. Log-files are written during usage, leaving an audit trail and confirming accountability.

The built-in security of a safeguarded document is based on the 128-bit AES technology - an international, advanced encryption standard that is recognised worldwide as a virtually infallible way of making a document inaccessible to unauthorised persons. "Theoretically, it means that one would need about 190 years with a massive computer to work through the series of algorithmic permutations of the code, trying to decipher it," Wessels explains.

The benefits of the device are obvious and explain the huge international interest in the product. Worldwide there is an enormous need for data security. DexData Lock is launched internationally this month, with an option of three packages:

* The Personal Edition, which is aimed at the individual and contains one key for safeguarding one`s own data;
* The Professional Edition, with two to five keys, which is ideal for SMEs where up to five persons can share the protected information (eg a legal firm, insurance broker, etc);
* The Enterprise Edition, with as many keys as required, for truly large companies and corporations.

The device is compact and roughly resembles the well-known computer memory stick in appearance. It is exceptionally simple to use, too. "If you can unlock a door, you can use this device," says Wessels.

Another extremely appealing aspect of the DexData Lock is its affordability - particularly for individuals and SMEs. "After all, how could sensitive or confidential information ever be valued in terms of rand and cents?" Wessels asks. "If your data is worthless, you won`t need this product. But it is a pity that many people, as a result of ignorance, first have to learn the hard way when their confidential data ends up in unauthorised hands because it wasn`t protected. Here we have a device that can limit that vulnerability."

Experts agree that the DexData Lock is yet another example of South Africans` ability to produce world-class technology with the capability of making a clean sweep internationally.