Utimaco's SafeGuard Easy software

[draco2527]

After seeing the Thinkpad post regarding Utimaco's SafeGuard Easy software, I have to make a comment...

The application is AWESOME(use it at work)...but like anything else, there are + and - things about it...

The software seems to be well designed, upon installation you get a "Safeguard" login screen; the password works separate and is not related to the OS! Password is managed via a utility that generates "Keys" (you can also add token authentication..but never played with that feature, so I can't comment). The keys can be set in the OS to expire after so many hours/days/logins; after the limit is reached Safeguard will not let you get in. If the password is entered incorrectly, the application will delay the option to re-enter the password with exponential values (by the time you enter your password incorrectly 3 times, you will wait about 4 minutes before you will be allowed to enter the password again, by the 5 time you might be there 15 minutes...rebooting WILL NOT decrease the waiting time). The application also has a MASTER key that can be set to expire at different intervals then the "primary" key; there is also a function that will "reset" the "primary" key after expiration for another round of hours/days/logins. Once the key expires you can generate a code (challenge code) that is entered into a utility controlled by IT that will generate a response code this code can be customized.


All these above are good...here are some of the bad...

On an 80GB hd with about 20GB's of used space the "SafeGuard" installation will take almost 5 HOURS! The application can be removed manually once access to the OS is gained, or a KEY can be generated that automatically removed the application once entered at boot. The removal process takes as long as the installation.

One thinkg worth mentioning, several "formatting" utilities were used with a "Safeguarded" HD to try to "wipe" it clean without using the de-cryption function on the OS. Many had a hard time writing to the HD (NOT SURE WHY!!) The one that seems to work without a glitch for formatting a SafeGuarded HD is the SDD (Secure Data Disposal) utility from "IBM/Lenovo".

I have not attempted to "recover" data from a Safeguarded HD connected to another machine (say, your laptop HD installed in a desktop to try to recover the data from it) Please keep in mind that the "primary" and "master" keys would be known. I've been meaning to play with this function for a while!!

It is not "hardware/Software" based like the security chip in most thinkpads; plus it is easier to manage in large environments without having to have a dedicated server to keep all the encryption keys generated by the Security Chip on ThinkPad's, Dell's, etc.

[ptantra]

Good testamonial. A few questions that hopefully you can answer:

1) Is there a noticable decrease in system performance?

2) Any idea how this impacts peer-to-peer networking in a home office environment?

3) Is this software end-user/home user friendly?


Thanks!