New SD card product encrypts data and email on BlackBerry devices

by The PocketBerry Team

4 March 2009 One Comment

certgate_card

Promising “a new level of security for Windows phones”, German firm Certgate has unveiled SD cards dubbed “Protector” that encrypt data on phones powered by the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system as well Blackberry handsets.

They are pretty confident that the encryption used in “Protector” as it has supposedly passed strict tests by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, and that units are actually being piloted by the German interior ministry. The “Protector” SD card has a maximum of 1GB flash memory and is slipped into devices that have SD, microSD or miniSD expansion slots.

Once inserted, data written to a Windows Mobile handset will be hardware-encrypted using a combination of RSA 2048-bit and AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 256-bit keys. However, the “Protector” does not encrypt voice calls, which isn’t a surprise at all. It does supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and VPN (virtual private network) connection to e-mail servers such as Microsoft’s Exchange which is a huge plus for businesses. It also offers another layer of protection to Blackberry emails via S/MIME e-mail encryption. Price for a “Protector” SD card is about €100 (US$125) for a lifetime license and may be lower on volume or bulk orders. Overtime, these may or may not get cheaper, depending on how it launches. We’ll have to wait and see.

Source: PCWorld, MobileTopSoft