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What's Wrong With Free Data Encryption Software? Absolutely Nothing

There is nothing wrong with free encryption software.  It may sound weird coming from a full disk encryption software vendor that charges for its services.  But, if cannot be denied: there are plenty of free encryption products out there that can provide data protection that is as good as AlertBoot endpoint security encryption.

There are reasons why many companies won't go this route, though, despite the costs-savings free software seems to provide.  Chief among them happens to be the fact that there is a difference between encrypting one computer and a bunch of computers, just like there's a world of difference between making yourself dinner and making dinner for a military regiment.

In other words, scale and management are an issue when it comes to encryption.  Companies, dealing with hundreds--perhaps thousands--of computers, have found out that a free product that is not able to scale will cost them money in the long run.

If you need to protect your home computer, or perhaps ten computers at work, free encryption software may fit the bill, not just in terms of price, but in other aspects as well.

Key Management And Centralized Encryption

If you have to deal with a larger deck of computers, though, and you feel the need to use disk encryption to secure them, centrally managed encryption is probably a better option (these tend to be not free, including AlertBoot).

That's because centralization allows easier management.

One of the most common complaints regarding deployment of encryption systems is the difficulty surrounding encryption key management.  If you lose track of (or just lose) this key, there's a good chance you might not be able to recover a computer's data in the event of an accident.

The benefits of centralization don't stop there, though.  If you have to generate reports to confirm which machines have been encrypted, or if you need a similar report to perform audits, centralization makes the job that much easier. (Again, such tasks are easy to do with a small number of computers, but become progressively harder with more computers in the mix.)

Plus, central management also allows an administrator to control other security aspects of computers.  For example, USB port control policies can be created and applied easily in AlertBoot.

 
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About sang_lee

Sang Lee is a Senior Account Manager and Security Analyst with AlertBoot, Inc., the leading provider of managed endpoint security services, based in Las Vegas, NV. Mr. Lee helps with the deployment and ongoing support of the AlertBoot disk encryption managed service. Prior to working at AlertBoot, Mr. Lee served in the South Korean Navy. He holds both a B.S. and an M.S. from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.