Thursday, 6 October 2005 14:31 EST

The first encryption solution for PDAs approved by both GCHQ and MoD

BeCrypt PDA Protect Baseline, the PDA security solution from the UK’s leading encryption software company, has been approved by DIPCOG (the Defence INFOSEC Product Co-Operation Group), for use within the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This approval supports the Baseline certification granted to the product last September by the UK Government’s Technical Authority for Information Assurance within GCHQ; the Communications Electronic Security Group (CESG). CESG has approved PDA Protect Baseline for use within UK Government to protect UK Restricted material. BeCrypt also provides their CESG and DIPCOG approved full disk encryption product DISK Protect to a wide range of UK Government and Military customers.

PDA Protect Baseline is the only encryption security PDA product that has been approved by both CESG and DIPCOG for use by Government departments, the MoD and defence contractors. PDA Protect Baseline will appear in the DCSA (Defence Communications Services Industry) Catalogue, which is the procurement route for the MoD, and for public sector organisations such as the NHS.

In addition to the DIPCOG approval, PDA Protect Baseline recently completed an incremental evaluation under the CESG Approved Product Scheme (CAPS) that resulted in a wider range of approved Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for use within the UK Government and MoD. The new version of PDA Protect Baseline supports the following popular PDAs:
Compaq/HP: IPAQ Series 5550; Series 4710; Series 2750 and Series 2410
Dell: Axim X50v
Fujitsu: LOOX 710 and LOOX 720
Orange: SPV M2000
O2: XDAII

“PDAs are increasingly being used across the UK Government and Military sectors to store sensitive information and carry it into less secure environments. It is imperative that this material is protected by products that have been certified fit for purpose by the UK Government’s Information Assurance group, CESG,” said Peter Jaco, CEO of BeCrypt. “DIPCOG approval for our PDA Protect Baseline provides Ministry of Defence users with the only UK Government certified security product that encrypts all data on the PDA in the field and helps mobile users to protect National data interests.”

In a recent report published by Gartner, worldwide PDA shipments totalled 3.6 million units in the second quarter of 2005. The industry analysts believe the market is on pace to reach 15 million units shipped by the end of 2005.

PDA Protect Baseline has been specifically designed to meet UK Government requirements. The product allows a comprehensive security policy for PDA use to be defined and enforced. PDA Protect Baseline features include:

Enhanced authentication – Provides strong user authentication and password generation
Data encryption – Provides transparent encryption of user data on removable memory cards
Device configuration – Controls use of high risk features, such as Bluetooth and infra-red capabilities
Secured synchronisation – Prevents the connection of protected PDAs to unauthorised PCs and the connection of unauthorised PDAs to protected PCs
Auditing – Captures PDA security-related events, such as synchronisation and selected file transfers

PDA Protect Baseline is part of BeCrypt’s range of successful enterprise security products, which include the CAPS-approved DISK Protect Baseline and DISK Protect Enhanced. This month, BeCrypt became the first company to receive the CSIA Claims Tested (CCT) Mark Scheme, the UK Government’s new product assurance programme, for its Connect Protect Plug and Play controls product.

About BeCrypt

BeCrypt Limited was formed in 2001 to meet the growing demand for high-level computer encryption products in the international government and corporate marketplace. The company is the UK’s largest supplier of enterprise encryption and security products designed to fully protect all corporate data. BeCrypt products protect customers in key UK government areas including: central and local government, the military and defence sector, law enforcement and transportation. The company also services the commercial sector with key customers in financial services, pharmaceutical, insurance and banking sectors.

BeCrypt’s DISK Protect and PDA Protect products have been designed to meet stringent government security standards and have been approved by the UK Government. This approval ensures BeCrypt products have met the needs of Government level security policy and standards without compromising usability.

BeCrypt has won an award from the Department of Trade and Industry for innovative technology and has patents pending on a number of unique security technologies.

Further information at http://www.becrypt.com