Kaspersky Unveils KryptoStorage ($30)

Kaspersky Lab announces the release of Kaspersky KryptoStorage (KKS). The product, with its user-friendly, intuitive interface, is designed to provide cryptographic protection and permanently delete data from computers running Windows operating systems.

Users of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, in particular, will appreciate the new product’s features because those products in conjunction with Kaspersky KryptoStorage transform your computer into an impenetrable data storage that can withstand any form of attack.

Malware linked to the theft of users’ confidential data is becoming more and more widespread. Encryption of the most critical user data provides an additional layer of defense against hacker attacks, including those that make use of various types of malicious programs.

Kaspersky KryptoStorage preserves the confidentiality and integrity of information by encrypting it. Data can only be read, modified or deleted by users who know the predefined password that was entered at the time of encryption.

Kaspersky KryptoStorage secures three types of object: catalogs, virtual disks (file containers) and logical partitions of the hard drive. Encryption and, if necessary, decryption of hard disk partitions is performed in the background, allowing the user to continue working with data.

The ability to encrypt different object types makes the cryptosystem flexible and easy to use. For instance, if all the data is important to a user, he can encrypt an entire partition. If there isn’t a large amount of confidential information, encryption can be limited to areas on a storage device, placing data in a container, or simply to separate folders.

Once data has been encrypted, it is subsequently decrypted and re-encrypted ‘the fly’ i.e., it is transparent to the user. When a user opens a document to read information, it is automatically decrypted; when it is written to a disk, it is encrypted. This means that data located on the hard disk is always encrypted. Transparent encryption enhances the level of security and makes things easy for the user – the user doesn’t need to invoke the application, and data that is opened is guaranteed to be encrypted when saved.

Users of Kaspersky KryptoStorage will appreciate the convenience of working with file containers: they can be sent via email, written to a CD or deleted. This doesn’t require a password, which is only needed to gain access to the information stored in a container. A file container can be mounted on any computer that has Kaspersky KryptoStorage installed on it.

Encrypted folders and file containers can be saved on internal, external, local and network storage media (on any digital devices, including magnetic and optical disks as well as flash cards). In addition, containers can be stored on encrypted disks, in encrypted folders and inside other containers. A single password can be used for all protected objects or different passwords used for each object.

The cryptosecurity in Kaspersky KryptoStorage is based on the robust AES-128 algorithm of symmetric encryption. A secret key is generated using cryptographic conversion of the password entered by the user. In addition, the solution is resistant to brute-force attacks thanks to a special algorithm that makes such attacks ineffective even with the highest-performance computer hardware.

As well as cryptosecurity, Kaspersky KryptoStorage is also capable of permanently deleting data from any media, which prevents information being compromised if a memory device is lost or after it is thrown away. This is done using a random sequence of symbols to overwrite the deleted file several times, which makes it impossible to restore data using dedicated software and makes restoration using advanced data recovery equipment extremely difficult.

Current users of Kaspersky Lab products qualify for a 35% discount when purchasing Kaspersky KryptoStorage.

"Unfortunately, data theft and the illegal use of other people’s data is becoming more and more widespread," says Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and Co-founder of Kaspersky Lab. "Now, with the help of Kaspersky KryptoStorage, you can protect yourself against these threats. The product is easy to use and provides such a robust level of security that the bad guys would have to spend hundreds of years trying to break into this impregnable digital safe."