News
Thales nShield Hardware Security Modules support Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
January 2011 by Marc Jacob
Thales, a Microsoft Gold Partner, announces its nShield hardware security modules (HSMs) now provide comprehensive key management and hardware-based cryptography for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. Microsoft customers selecting Thales HSMs now benefit from additional security features including encryption key management and storage of master encryption keys in FIPS-validated hardware – a long-standing industry best practice – enabling organizations to meet compliance mandates such as PCI DSS and data breach notification acts.
Sensitive data stored in a database is protected against the escalating threats of data breaches by cyber criminals and intellectual property thieves wherever it resides, whether it is transferred to other media such as tape for backup or transported off site. Thales HSMs protect and manage the keys used for transparent data encryption (TDE) and cell-level encryption in FIPS-validated hardware – allowing organizations to take advantage of cost-effective key management across multiple servers. In addition the encryption keys are stored separate from the data itself as required by compliance mandates or corporate data security standards. For high availability, Thales HSMs support SQL Server cluster and mirrored configurations.
Thales nShield connect and nShield Solo HSMs integrate with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 as well as with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 databases with TDE.
