Colt and Infoguard AG partner to help companies tackle European Commission e-Privacy Directive
Published by Make Do on October 6, 2010
Colt, Europe’s leading information delivery platform, today announced that it has formed a partnership with InfoGuard AG, the Swiss expert in high-performance encryption solutions. At a time where the value of data passing over networks keeps on increasing, businesses require more and more consistent security of their operations. This is both for risk management and European Commission e-Privacy Directive compliance. The Colt and Infoguard partnership helps customers implement layer-2-encryption across their entire European operation, with for the first time one service provider.
Eric Domage, business analyst and IDC’s EMEA expert on Security Solutions & Services, commented on the importance and relevance of the partnership: "Even if the use of encryption seems rather easy for end-users, it is a complex task. Ciphering/de-ciphering requires complex and advanced expertise. Above all, decryption and key management are the most sensible steps. These can only be managed by expert companies that have strong experience with encryption. Segregation of duty in this space is very important. It is therefore natural to see a partnership between a communications provider and an encryption expert. Each of these partners are experts in their domain, so clients get dual and separated expertise in a single bill;" he said.
Mike Hollands, Head of Solution Marketing at Colt, adds, “As the value of mission-critical data passing over the WAN increases, our clients are demanding encryption as part of our service. Our partnership with Infoguard allows us to offer industry leading layer-2-encryption without requiring our customers to deploy any additional hardware or incur the initial capital expenditure.” Mike Hollands continues, “By encrypting at the transport layer, we are now able to offer this added level of security across our entire range of services. This is a unique differentiator for our portfolio and further strengthens Colt’s position as Europe’s leading information delivery platform.”
Thomas Meier, CEO InfoGuard says, “The value of data travelling across carrier networks is truly staggering, with transactions worth billions moving across the planet each second. In the wrong hands, this information can be used fraudulently. By integrating encryption technology as a carrier level managed service, we reduce the risk and complexity associated with the installation and management of more devices on the client network client – especially at branch offices with minimal IT support staff.”
Colt and InfoGuard have previously worked closely together on major projects for leading Swiss financial institutions, providing layer-2-encryption between international financial centres. Through the new formalised partnership, all Colt clients across Europe will now be able to utilise this proven encryption technology out of one hand and based on Colt’s service model.
About the service
Colt will use InfoGuard layer-2-encryption as part of a new service option across its entire European Ethernet and high speed networks spanning 100 cities. InfoGuard encryption devices are fully transparent within the network and offer 100% encryption at line speed throughput with minimal latency making the devices suitable for time-critical applications and in heavily utilised links. All InfoGuard products are developed strictly in accordance with the FIPS 140-2 level 3 requirements in an ISO 9001:2000 environment in Switzerland. Colt will offer InfoGuard Encryption as an option on their HSS (High Speed Service) and LANLink (Ethernet) service with each client retaining control over encryption keys to ensure the highest level of security.
About Infoguard
InfoGuard is Switzerland’s leading manufacturer of high-performance encryption solutions for the protection of corporate and municipal optical networks. InfoGuard develops, markets and implements its own hardware security solutions. A Swiss company, InfoGuard guarantees top-quality products and absolute independence in implementating its security functions. All products are developed and manufactured in-house in Switzerland by certified security specialists.
Member of Swiss «The Crypto Group», one of Europe’s largest and most renowned ICT security providers employing a staff of more than 300, InfoGuard ensures that customers in over 130 countries benefit from over 55 years of experience and continuity in the field of information security. Based in Zug (Switzerland), InfoGuard has representative offices in London, Frankfurt and Dubai.
InfoGuards clientele includes governmental/municipal authorities, the chemical industry, telecommunications and industrial enterprises as well as insurance companies and banks. InfoGuard provides layer-2-encryption technology to over 60% of major financial institution in Switzerland, where data-in-transit encryption has become an industry best-practice requirement.
About Colt
Colt is Europe’s leading information delivery platform, enabling its customers to share, process and store their vital business information. An established leader in delivering integrated networking and IT managed services to major organisations, midsized businesses and wholesale customers, Colt operates a 19-country, 25,000km network that includes metropolitan area networks in 34 major European cities with direct fibre connections into 17,000 buildings and 19 Colt data centres. In 2010, the Colt Data Centre Services business was launched to deliver innovative high quality modular data centres which are rapid to deploy and power efficient.
Colt is listed on the London Stock Exchange (COLT). Information about Colt and its services can be found at www.colt.net.
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