Wave Integrating Support for Intel vPro

Wave Systems Corp. announced the integration of support for Intel vPro Technology into its EMBASSY software, a solution for secure and robust management of self-encrypting hard drives in the enterprise. Self-encrypting drives – where encryption is built into the drive itself – are available from all the major drive vendors and leading PC OEMs.

Intel vPro contains hardware-embedded secure remote management technology. Wave’s solution is designed to enhance and leverage this technology by letting IT initiate a secure, remote connection with a PC, regardless of its power state.

Potential benefits to the enterprise include:

End users no longer need to supply a password for self-encrypting drives in multi-user workstations (such as a nursing station in a hospital). The network administrator can now perform a secure unlock of the drive without passwords
Eliminating the costs associated with passwords for non-mobile PCs.
Restricting the use of specific PCs to specific network segments, facilities or rooms by only unlocking the self-encrypting drive if the machine is connected to an authorized port.
Support for standard remote management flows. Enables authorized IT to remotely image or issue patches over the network, thus reducing the cost of management, without compromising security or disruption to IT work flow.
Enabling remote user credential recovery that is invisible to the end user.
By operating independently from the operating system (OS), IT can unlock a drive even with a corrupted OS.
Support for ‘green’ initiatives. Environmentally conscious companies can power down unused systems without impacting standard IT management practices.
Support for all industry-standard, Opal-compliant self-encrypting drives (including both standard and solid-state versions) from Fujitsu, Hitachi, Samsung and Toshiba, along with Seagate’s DriveTrust technology, now available from leading PC OEMs.

"The all new 2010 Intel Core processor family features intelligent performance and unique security features to help businesses address their top concerns – cutting costs and increasing efficiency," said Lisa Watts, Director, Business Client Ecosystem Development, Intel Corporation. "Intel recognizes Wave Systems as one of the industry leaders for enhancing many of the advanced ‘smart features’ of vPro Technology that enables fast and easy management of self-encrypting drives. This will offer real value and benefit in the future as more enterprises select self-encrypting drives to protect data at rest."

"We’re proud of the fact that today we’re the first ISV that is fully integrating vPro support into an end-to-end solution for managing the built-in security of self-encrypting drives," said Brian Berger, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Wave Systems. "This solution addresses many enterprise requirements for deploying drives in organizations, such as how to send patches or perform routine maintenance during off hours or how to bypass end users in providing passwords to unlock an encrypted drive."

Support for vPro is available today in Wave’s EMBASSY client and server software for beta testing. Wave plans to integrate vPro support as a standard feature, with the first commercially available versions planned for later in 2010 – allowing users to have the benefits of security installed in the factory vs. an aftermarket solution.

To view the Intel-produced video featuring Wave President and CEO Steven Sprague