Raz-Lee Security Inc., a major vendor of security, auditing & compliance software solutions for IBM i systems, is announcing Field (Column) Encryption, an important addition to its current iSecurity product suite.

Field Encryption is an essential part of PCI, FDA, HIPAA and other compliance regulations, especially at financial and health care institutions. As such, it is not surprising that Raz-Lee’s existing, and potential, customers requested that we provide a state-of-the-art encryption solution to complement our comprehensive set of security, auditing and compliance solutions.

Following are some of the products major characteristics:

• iSecurity Field Encryption is based on IBM’s 7.1 announcement of FIELDPROC and does not have any legacy backward computability requirements for older encryption methods which required additional files or use of APIs.
• The new product requires no changes to existing software and encryption is properly handled via Native I/O, SQL, Query, DFU, etc. In all cases, data will appear automatically as clear, masked or no text, according to the authorities set for the user in the product.
• Following initial encryption, no lock on data files will ever occur. The encrypted files will always be available, even when keys are actually being refreshed (as required by the various regulations).
• Raz-Lee’s Encryption product is based on IBM OS/400 support for Master keys which are inaccessible even to strong users including QSECOFR.
• Encryption keys can be managed on the same, or on a different, LPAR. Refreshing of encryption keys can be scheduled to occur automatically.
• In a multi-LPAR organization, a single Key Manager can support the entire organization, saving redundant activities on all the other LPARs.
• The product offers extensive methods to identify fields which need to be encrypted. Even forgotten files or other temporary files will be easily identified as containing the field to be encrypted.  
• Performance aspects were given special attention in the design of iSecurity Field Encryption. In most cases, including when a partially masked value should appear (e.g. the last 4 digits of a credit card), no decryption operation will take place. Also, enforcement of key renewals can be deferred to night shifts in order to decrease performance overhead during high-activity hours. The product supports both encryption and tokenization; in any event, customers will not have to make any programming changes.
• NIST encryption standards and guidelines have been implemented in the product, which uses AES 256, 192, 128 to encrypt the data.

“Field & Column Level Encryption complements the iSecurity suite of IBM i security, auditing and compliance solutions, positioning Raz-Lee as the leader in this market. The product was designed initially to solve issues and inconveniences found in other encryption solutions. This includes the product’s ability to identify all fields to be encrypted, eliminate negative implications to application software and ensuring minimal effect on system performance" said Shmuel Zailer, CEO and CTO at Raz-Lee Security.  

“The simple and straightforward implementation of Field Encryption at both small and large organizations will assist these companies in complying with auditor’s and regulatory requirements for encrypting sensitive data. The product’s look and feel is in accordance with the widely acclaimed standards of iSecurity, ensuring a minimal learning curve.”