Leading Analyst Firm Recognizes WinMagic as a Visionary in Its Mobile Data Protection Magic Quadrant for 2010

TORONTO--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--WinMagic^® Inc. (www.winmagic.com), an innovative leader in full-disk encryption (FDE), today announced that leading research firm, Gartner Inc., has placed WinMagic as a “Visionary” in its Mobile Data Protection (MDP) Magic Quadrant* for 2010. WinMagic is committed to Research & Development, innovative features, comprehensive certifications, heterogeneous platform support and wide-ranging embedded system support for such technologies as Seagate self-encrypting (Drive Trust) drives, Opal compliant self-encrypting drives, TPM, Intel^® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel^® AT) and EFI.

“WinMagic is a natural fit in the Intel AT partner ecosystem. With its leadership in data encryption, in a short period of time it combined SecureDoc with Intel AT into an innovative product that takes data and asset protection, and PC theft deterrence to the next level.”

Gartner’s Magic Quadrant states that, “Mobile Data Protection (MDP) systems and procedures are needed to protect data privacy and to comply with audit requirements, and every company must include MDP in its IT operations plan.” WinMagic’s product development is squarely centered on its customer base’s need to secure PII (Personal Identifiable Information), PHI (Personal Health Information) and other sensitive data. Its product, SecureDoc, leads innovation in the area of pre-boot authentication; the support of multiple platforms; the encryption of removable media; the support of Seagate Drive Trust self-encrypting drives (SEDs) and Opal SEDs; the support of new security technologies entering the enterprise (e.g. Intel® Anti Theft Technology); the support of trusted devices like Seagate’s Black Armor external drive, IronKey, SanDisk, Kingston and MXI thumb drives; and its unique key management system. SecureDoc’s excels in the following:

Its enablement of single or multiple factor pre-boot authentication, including password, biometrics, smartcard, USB token, PKI and TPM
The installation, configuration, deployment and management of encrypted hard drives on PC, Mac and Linux clients under one SecureDoc Enterprise Server’s Management Console
Its platform support of 32- and 64-bit platforms under the same console
Integrated support for hardware based encryption (SEDs: Opal and Seagate Drive Trust drives) and software-based encryption
Its support of Intel® Anti-Theft Technology enabling platform disable and encryption data disable functionalities
Its unique key management system that allows for the multiple end user encryption keys to mange a variety to different encryption stores
The provisioning of audit logs held on the client as well as the SecureDoc Enterprise Server
Its ability to label encryption keys in human readable terms for easy identification
Its accreditation and pedigree in possessing FIPS 140-2 level, Common Criteria EAL-4

“WinMagic is very proud to be recognized as a visionary by Gartner’s prestigious Mobile Data Protection Magic Quadrant for 2010,” said Thi Nguyen-Huu, President & CEO, WinMagic Inc. “We have always invested heavily in R&D, and the result has been many industry firsts that set the bar for data protection on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms – making it easier for users and more secure than ever before.”

Compatible with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, as well as CAC and PIV cards, WinMagic’s SecureDoc protects all data stored on servers, desktops, laptops and removable media, such as USB thumb drives and CD/DVDs. It also provides centralized escrow and management of encryption keys to ensure that critical data can always be accessed by an organization – even if the user is unavailable or forgets their password.

SecureDoc also makes it simple for organizations to take full advantage on the latest products, such as Intel^® AT, which is available in select systems with the new 2010 Intel^® Core™ processor family. Intel AT acts as a laptop theft deterrence mechanism – enabling organizations to remotely issue a “poison pill” to disable stolen laptops whether or not they are connected to the internet. SecureDoc seamlessly adds full-disk encryption and encryption management to Intel® AT – ensuring data cannot be accessed before a laptop is disabled, even if the hard drive is removed and installed on another computer.

“With the growing adoption of mobile computing devices and the importance of protecting sensitive data, Intel has elevated the priority of security to be on par with our strategic focus areas in energy-efficient performance and Internet connectivity,” said George Thangadurai, General Manager of PC Client Services, Intel Corporation. “WinMagic is a natural fit in the Intel AT partner ecosystem. With its leadership in data encryption, in a short period of time it combined SecureDoc with Intel AT into an innovative product that takes data and asset protection, and PC theft deterrence to the next level."

“MDP is an established market with two primary purposes: first and foremost, to protect data by encryption; and second, to provide evidence that the protection is working,” writes John Girard, Vice President & Distinguished Analyst, Gartner Inc. Commenting further, Girard states in the report, “Gartner client inquiry calls steadily continue to request assistance in understanding, choosing and implementing data encryption. The number of calls indicating lack of knowledge about data leakage and the tendency to protect subsets of vulnerable devices provide additional validation that data protection is still inadequate across industries.”

* Gartner, Inc., Magic Quadrant for Mobile Data Protection, John Girard, Eric Ouellet, September 7, 2010.

About The Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010, by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in The Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About WinMagic Inc.

WinMagic’s SecureDoc full-disk encryption solutions make it simple to protect all data on desktops, laptops, tablets and removable media including USB thumb drives, CD/DVDs, and SD Cards. Compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000; Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Leopard and Tiger as well as Linux platforms, SecureDoc makes it just as easy to centrally manage and use standard drives and self-encrypting drives including Seagate and Opal compliant drives. WinMagic is trusted by thousands of enterprises and government organizations worldwide to minimize business risks, meet privacy/regulatory compliance requirements, and protect valuable information assets against unauthorized access. With a full complement of professional and customer services, WinMagic supports over three million SecureDoc users in approximately 43 countries. For more information, please visit www.winmagic.com, call 1-888-879-5879 or e-mail us at info@winmagic.com.

WinMagic, SecureDoc, SecureDoc Enterprise Server, Compartmental SecureDoc, SecureDoc PDA, SecureDoc Personal Edition, SecureDoc RME, SecureDoc Removable Media Encryption, SecureDoc Media Viewer, SecureDoc Express, SecureDoc for Mac and SecureDoc Central Database are trademarks and registered trademarks of WinMagic Inc., registered in the US and other countries. All other registered and unregistered trademarks herein are the sole property of their respective owners. © 2010 WinMagic Inc. All rights reserved.