PGP rolls out Whole Disk Encryption for Mac

PGP Corp., a security company focused on data encryption, plans to announce that it is offering a Mac OS X version of its Whole Disk Encryption product.

Whole Disk Encryption is used on the Windows platform in multiple verticals. John Dasher, director of product development at PGP, says the Mac OS X version is partially in response to increased enterprise adoption of the Mac platform. The announcement coincides with Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference.

"A lot of our customers are adopting Macs and told us they would like Whole Disk Encryption for the Mac," says Dasher. "Most of our customers have at least a few Macs."

Whole Disk Encryption retails for $119 a seat and is in compliance with FIPS 140-2, a data encryption standard validated by the U.S. government. The latest version of Whole Disk Encryption (9.9) adds pre-boot authentication for Intel-based Mac OS X systems and protects data on desktops, laptops and removable media. PGP's Whole Disk Encryption locks down all contents on laptops, desktops and drives of all kind.

The idea for PGP is to capitalize on the increasingly heterogeneous enterprise environment with one security encryption product. Forrester Research reckons that enterprise adoption of Macs tripled in the last year to 4.2 percent. That's a small percentage, but you'd hardly want 4.2 percent of your PCs lying around unencrypted. For instance, the National Institute of Health lost clinical data on 2,500 patients and later only allowed users that didn't have access to use Macs. Why? The NIH couldn't encrypt Macs uniformly.

Dasher added that PGP's Whole Disk Encryption is fully compatible with Apple's Filevault, which encrypts files.