More and more enterprises now rent space or servers on the cloud to store data. However, the fact that such data remains outside the ambit of the enterprise’s security system and invisible to the enterprise poses a serious security headache.

Porticor Virtual Private Data, an Israeli based start-up now offers technology that allows organizations to encrypt data held in the cloud.

The service, which includes a Virtual Appliance and an agent software, offers standard AES 256 or Blowfish encryption that has a maximum key length of 2048 bits. A unique “split-key” method adds to the security. The customer holds the master key, common to all data objects such as a disk or the file in the application, and Porticor holds the other key, which is unique for each data object. When the application accesses the data store, Porticor uses both parts of the key to encrypt or decrypt the data. The service encrypts the master key when in use to prevent hackers from stealing it.

The offering is scalable, with the customer given the ability to expand the encryption to any number of projects, and each project allowed infinite data across multiple databases and file servers. Porticor also provides a secure API that allows the customer to control all functions and integrate data encryption to an automated environment.

Amazon Web Services have already implemented the Porticor offering successfully, whereas successful testing is over for major players including Microsoft. Porticor is in the process of negotiation with key cloud storage players for closer integration of technology that would make the product seamless and easy to implement.

Posted on Security Suite