Kroll Ontrack Launches Eraser 4.0 Software

Kroll Ontrack Inc. announced Ontrack Eraser 4.0, an enterprise data eraser solution, complete with expanded drive wiping capacity, VMware eraser capabilities and new reporting and security management functionality.

"A 2012 Internet Security Threat Report (Volume 17, Symantec, April 2012) revealed that 234 million identities were exposed in 2011 because of breaches, reiterating the importance of effective, secure data wiping," said Abhik Mitra, product manager, Kroll Ontrack. "Whether you are a corporation that needs to recycle a large number of drives that are end-of-life or re-deploy a set of machines, Ontrack Eraser 4.0 can handle the specifications of your environment and the scope of your job – all while ensuring proper protocol is being maintained."

Specific features and functionality include:

• VMware Drive Wiping Capabilities: The ability to delete data from VMware machines, ensuring corporations are securely deleting data from their virtual environments and therefore addressing the complete scope of their IT environment.
• System Performance: The enhanced capacity to perform over 200 concurrent device erasures to ensure the largest enterprise jobs are handled.
• System Reporting: New reports that denote the HDD make, serial number and model number, as well as the wipe algorithm applied to accomplish the job, providing corporations with the records for recycling centers and compliance requests.
• Security and Central Management Capabilities: New system authentication functionality to validate the erasure is conducted in the correct manner by the appropriate individual.

Data wiping is fundamental to complying with laws and regulations regarding data retention and privacy and reducing the risk of security breaches. The capabilities of Ontrack Eraser 4.0 enable enterprises to build an automated, efficient and cost-effective wipe process for a number of devices. In addition to the enterprise software, Kroll Ontrack also has a mobile erasure service to help corporations address their erasure needs and meet their compliance and security requirements.

"At Alternativ Data, we needed a robust software tool that could handle wiping 18,000 used drives annually, so we could resell those drives afterwards," said Ståle Hagen-Arnsen, logistics and security manager, Alternativ Data AS. "Ontrack Eraser does just that for us. It enables us to wipe a very large number of drives efficiently, while also providing detailed reports that confirm which drives were wiped and when."