Townsend Security Data Privacy Blog

With simplified usage-based licensing with no upfront fees, no annual minimums, and built-in support, VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs can offer customers better security with encryption and key management at a lower cost.

Townsend Security today announced new flexible licensing of Alliance Key Manager, their FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key management server (KMS) to VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs. The new program allows these businesses to offer better security with encryption and VMware-certified key management at a lower cost, while maintaining their current pay-per-use and pay-as-you-go business model.

VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs need to help their customers achieve encryption of VMs and vSAN storage to meet compliance requirements and new regulations like GDPR and CCPA. However, typical commercial KMS solutions are expensive, hard to maintain, and have complex licensing requirements. Legacy KMS systems create a business problem for VMware partners who are trying to grow their business, compete with large Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), and don’t match the VMware partner’s business model. Townsend Security has addressed all of these obstacles with their new program for VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs.

The new program offered by Townsend Security allows VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs the ability to encrypt VMs and vSAN with FIPS 140-2 and KMIP compliant Alliance Key Manager. The solution is easy to install, configure, and deploy. Once deployed it requires no routine maintenance and partners have total flexibility in how and where they deploy the KMS system to help their customers. Crucially, the  new Townsend Security program will match the VMware Cloud Provider’s business model eliminating KMS licensing headaches, unmanageable reporting requirements, and unreliable KMS high availability implementations.

“Many VMware Cloud Providers and MSPs provide usage-based deployments for their end customers. Alliance Key Manager fits seamlessly into their business strategy to match the way they do business,” said Patrick Townsend, Founder & CEO of Townsend Security. “With Alliance Key Manager, you will never have up-front fees, annual minimums, complex software maintenance contracts, or restrictions on how you do business. Our partners are empowered to grow their business without concerns about how to allocate KMS costs. Predictable SaaS usage-based pricing makes it easy to sell, implement, and support end customers and their security needs - and an additional benefit is the incremental revenue and positive impact on margins.”

Once enrolled in Townsend Security’s new VMware Cloud Provider and MSP program, the company will assign training and support resources to help partners get started. There is no charge for training and Townsend Security’s technical support team is available for 24/7 business interruption support. 

Visit www.townsendsecurity.com/msp to learn more about Townsend Security’s new VMware Cloud Provider and MSP partner program.

Alliance Key Manager, Townsend Security’s FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key manager, is now available free of charge to Microsoft MVPs and AWS Heroes.

Townsend Security today announced that it is extending free Not for Resale (NFR) licenses to Microsoft MVPs and AWS Heroes for Alliance Key Manager, their FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key management server (KMS). The NFR licenses are available for non-production use only, including educational, lab testing, evaluation, training, and demonstration purposes. NFR Licenses are available here.

Joining VMware vExperts in Townsend Security’s successful NFR program, Microsoft MVPs and AWS Heroes can protect databases, applications, and VMware images with a secure and compliant key management server (KMS). Additionally, the solution allows businesses to properly encrypt private data without modifying their business applications. Alliance Key Manager supports the OASIS Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) and Microsoft’s Extensible Key Management (EKM) found in SQL Server Enterprise 2008+ and SQL Server Standard 2019+. The solution is available as a VMware Virtual Machine or in the cloud (AWS, Microsoft Azure).

Additionally, Townsend Security provides Alliance Key Manager users with a wide range of ready-to-use security applications, SDKs, and sample code. With over 3,000 users worldwide, the solution is helping businesses achieve their security and efficiency goals in cloud and VMware environments.

“Protecting sensitive data continues to be a critical concern in IT, and an important part of both security and compliance efforts,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. “After launching with VMware vExperts, we are excited to extend the program to Microsoft MVPs and AWS Heroes. I believe they will be pleased to see how fast and easy encryption key management has become.”

Microsoft MVPs and AWS Heroes can request an NFR license of Alliance Key Manager here.

Alliance Key Manager, featuring full support for VMware encryption of VMs and vSAN, is now available free of charge to VMware vExperts.

Townsend Security today announced that it offers free Not for Resale (NFR) licenses to VMware vExperts for Alliance Key Manager, their FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key management server (KMS). The NFR license keys are available for non-production use only, including educational, lab testing, evaluation, training, and demonstration purposes. NFR Licenses are available here.

Alliance Key Manager enables VMware customers to use native vSphere encryption for VMs and vSAN to protect VMware images and digital assets while deploying a secure and compliant key management server (KMS). VMware users can deploy multiple, redundant (HA) key servers as a part of the KMS Cluster configuration for maximum resilience and high availability. The key manager is certified by VMware for use with vSphere version 6.5 and later, and for vSAN version 6.6 and later. 

Using the advanced cryptographic permissions in VMware vCenter Server, along with a KMS, VMware users can prevent internal/external threats and protect sensitive workloads. In addition to supporting vSphere encryption of VMs and vSAN, Alliance Key Manager supports application and database encryption deployed in VMware virtual servers.

“We are excited to provide VMware vExperts with Alliance Key Manager, our encryption key management server (KMS) for their test labs,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. “Protecting sensitive data continues to be a critical concern in IT, and an important part of both security and compliance efforts. Data-at-rest encryption options in vSphere are comprehensive and very easy to use. Alliance Key Manager seamlessly integrates with VMware’s encryption capabilities.”

Townsend Security is a VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) and Alliance Key Manager for VMware has achieved VMware Ready status.   VMware vExperts can request an NFR license of Alliance Key Manager for VMware here.

Alliance Key Manager for IBM Cloud for VMware provides encryption and key management to help IBM Cloud for VMware customers meet data privacy compliance regulations and security best practices.

Townsend Security today announced Alliance Key Manager, its affordable FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key manager, is available for IBM Cloud for VMware. By running Alliance Key Manager for IBM Cloud for VMware, enterprises can encrypt VMs and vSAN virtual directories and protect private information in their applications and databases with a dedicated key manager - with no access to encryption keys by IBM.

Working with VMware and Coalfire, Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager achieved compliance with PCI-DSS when implemented on a standard VMware reference architecture. Support for the PCI-DSS standard has smoothed the path to compliance for VMware customers in IBM Cloud. Additionally, Alliance Key Manager for IBM Cloud for VMware can also help businesses meet other compliance regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, GLBA/FFIEC, FISMA, etc.

“Customers want to experience regulatory compliance out-of-the-box. They don’t want to have to engage in lengthy audits and security validations in order to deploy applications to the cloud. PCI-DSS is one of those key indicator regulations and our commitment to provide proven regulatory compliance is a great benefit to our VMware customers,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. “We take data security compliance issues off of the table and this really helps our customers. With this announcement we are extending formal support for our solutions to the IBM Cloud for VMware.”

As enterprises move to IBM Cloud they bring their sensitive data with them. With Alliance Key Manager for IBM Cloud for VMware, organizations can encrypt their VMs and vSAN storage that are managed by vSphere. Leveraging the KMIP interface in vSphere users can define one or more key managers to protect the encryption keys used to encrypt VMs and vSAN. Alliance Key Manager is certified by VMware for all versions of vSphere and vSAN that support encryption.

“Encrypting VMs and vSAN storage provides a rapid path to meeting security best practices and compliance regulations. There is no limit to the number of VMs or vSAN storage pools that you can protect,” continued Townsend. “I am proud of our team for creating a truly affordable solution for VMware key management. Small businesses should contact us for information about special small business pricing.”

Alliance Key Manager for IBM Cloud for VMware is available for a free 30-day evaluation.

Multi-Source Data Masking Software Now Encrypts and Decrypts with Keys in Cloud, VMware, or HSM Platforms

Innovative Routines International (IRI), Inc., a leading provider of data masking software, and Townsend Security, a leading authority in data privacy solutions, have enabled IRI FieldShield to use encryption keys stored and managed in Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager servers. The integration gives DBAs and “data security governance” professional a robust, compliant way to encrypt or decrypt data at rest in many sources.

A multi-year rise of hacking incidents and privacy law violations has driven demand for data-centric security. “Masking data in FieldShield using AES encryption, and protecting those encryption keys with Alliance Key Manager can help mitigate the risk of data breaches, and protect an organization’s brand and reputation,” observed Patrick Townsend, Founder & CEO of Townsend Security. “This is especially relevant given laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which contemplates encryption of sensitive data in order to avoid class action lawsuits,” he added.

FieldShield classifies, discovers, and masks personally identifiable information (PII) in relational and NoSQL databases, and a wide range of structured file formats on-premise or in the cloud. Multiple encryption functions -- including format-preserving encryption -- are among its 15 masking categories. FieldShield users can assign a unique passphrase to serve as an encryption key for one or more data classes (columns or fields). The keys allow the restoration of original values from ciphertext when used with the corresponding decryption function.

Alliance Key Manager provides the security of TLS-authenticated access to FieldShield passphrases stored in VMware, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, or a private or dedicated Hardware Security Module (HSM). This assures that only authorized users can access the key server and obtain the keys to decrypt.

FieldShield users can generate the keys using either the native command line or web interface to Alliance Key Manager. “Centralizing storage of FieldShield passphrases through Alliance Key Manager not only gives our users FIPS 140-2 compliant key security, but also a more convenient way to manage their encryption keys,” according to IRI developer Devon Kozenieski.

About IRI
Founded in 1978, IRI develops fast data management and data-centric security software through 40 cities worldwide. IRI’s proven data manipulation engine -- and its free Eclipse job design environment -- provide uniquely price-performant and versatile data lifecycle solution software for big data and BI/DW architects, data security and compliance teams, DBAs, and developers. Gartner recognizes IRI FieldShield, CellShield, DarkShield as static and dynamic masking solutions for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data sources.

Alliance Key Manager supports Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) in Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition. 

Townsend Security today announced Alliance Key Manager, its affordable FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key manager, supports Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition.  Users of Microsoft SQL Server Standard Edition can now easily meet compliance (PCI DSS, GDPR, CCPA, etc.) and protect private data like customer PII and intellectual property without modifying existing applications or the database.  By using the database’s Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), coupled with Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager for SQL Server, organizations can protect their private data at a lower cost.

Alliance Key Manager, a FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key management solution, allows enterprises to effectively encrypt data and meet security requirements in less time with a flexible, centralized offering. The solution provides full life-cycle management of encryption keys for a wide variety of applications, including Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise and Standard editions.

“We were pleased to see Microsoft announced that SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition would support TDE and EKM, bringing encryption and proper key management without application changes to their popular Standard Edition. By lowering the technical and financial bar to protecting private data, companies of all sizes can easily protect private information,” said Patrick Townsend, Founder and CEO of Townsend Security.  “Since the initial release of TDE and EKM in Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise ten years ago, we have been proud to offer an affordable, industry leading solution - and now extend that to SQL Server Standard users.”

Microsoft SQL Server users can deploy Alliance Key Manager as a hardware security module (HSM), VMware virtual machine, or in the cloud as a native AWS EC2 instance or Microsoft Azure virtual machine. Alliance Key Manager supports seamless migration and hybrid implementations, providing Enterprise’s with options for their high availability strategy. 

“By providing both on-premise and cloud solutions, Enterprise's can easily rely on a centralized key manager to protect their data regardless of where it resides or will in the future. Further, while key management solutions offered by CSPs provide convenience, they leave an organization’s encryption keys accessible to third-party administrators - increasing the risk to their security posture,” continued Townsend. “Our simplified licensing model that avoids charging by the number of endpoint databases and number of keys, makes the upgrade to SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition a no-brainer for many Microsoft users. Microsoft has really done well by its customers.”

Alliance Key Manager for SQL Server is available for a free 30-day evaluation.

New, scalable pricing for Alliance Key Manager customers running in edge computing environments.

Townsend Security is extending support of its cloud, container, and VMware Ready key management solution, Alliance Key Manager, to customers running applications and databases in edge computing environments. This new offering provides scalable pricing for customers running a large number of edge computing environments in remote cloud or on-premise deployments. The new offering is called Alliance Key Manager for Edge Computing and will make it easy and affordable for customers to take encryption and proper key management everywhere it needs to go.

“Edge computing requires that applications and infrastructure move closer to end users to achieve performance and availability goals. For edge computing customers, this often means that application deployments move to cloud or remote on-premise facilities. Think of a retail box store that may have hundreds of applications in every store. Or, think of an HMO with multiple hospitals, clinics, and remote providers. There is often a pain point around encrypting that information and deploying encryption key management at the edge to protect sensitive data,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. “Encryption key management solutions are too expensive and too difficult to manage in these highly distributed edge computing environments. Those are the problems that we are helping to solve with our new offering.”

Encryption and key management have become a critical aspect of security and compliance management. Edge computing deployments can involve VMware clusters, Cloud web services, Big Data IoT collection, and many other architectures. Protecting encryption keys mitigates the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks, as well as protects an organization’s brand, reputation and credibility. Alliance Key Manager for Edge Computing addresses these needs by helping enterprises reduce risk, support business continuity, and demonstrate compliance with regulations like PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.

“With the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) due to go into effect on January 1, 2020, it becomes more important than ever to protect sensitive consumer and household data with strong encryption. Strong encryption with proper encryption key management is the only protection from class action lawsuits under the CCPA. Wherever your data goes it is subject to a data breach. With edge computing, the data is in more places and is more exposed to loss,” continued Townsend. “Townsend Security’s new Alliance Key Manager for Edge Computing provides the technical support and affordability that businesses need to protect sensitive data at the edge for CCPA.”

Alliance Key Manager for Edge Computing is available for a free 30-day evaluation.

Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager for MySQL offers unparalleled security, flexibility and affordability for all users of MySQL Enterprise Edition and MySQL Cluster CGE. 

Townsend Security today announced Alliance Key Manager for MySQL, an affordable FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key manager to help users of the MySQL Enterprise Edition database meet compliance requirements (PCI DSS, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc.) and security best practices. Users of the MySQL database can now easily protect private data like customer PII and intellectual property without modifying existing applications or the database by using the database’s Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) coupled with Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager for MySQL.  

While MySQL offers industry standard 256-bit AES encryption, it is recommended to use an external encryption key management solution like Alliance Key Manager for MySQL to manage the encryption keys. Alliance Key Manager uses the industry standard Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) to access encryption keys and MySQL users can deploy the solution and install the PKI certificates on the database server to easily begin protecting encryption keys.

"MySQL is the world’s most popular open-source database, and consequently, stores enormous amounts of sensitive data," said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. "MySQL Enterprise Edition includes standards based encryption, along with KMIP support for key management, and MySQL users can be confident that they are protecting their private data against a breach and meeting compliance requirements.” 

MySQL encrypts data at rest in real-time using industry standard AES algorithms prior to writing to storage and decrypted when read from storage. As a result, hackers and malicious users are unable to read sensitive data from tablespace files, database backups or disks. By using native MySQL command line operations, encryption is easy to deploy and keys can automatically be protected by Townsend Security’s Alliance Key Manager. MySQL users can deploy the key management solution as a hardware security module (HSM), VMware virtual machine, or in the cloud as a native AWS EC2 instance or Microsoft Azure virtual machine. Alliance Key Manager supports seamless migration and hybrid implementations. 

“Encryption and key management is easier than ever and I think that MySQL Enterprise Edition users will be delighted to find how easy and affordable it is to deploy an enterprise-class centralized encryption key management solution,” continued Townsend. “Protecting PII, enterprise IP, and meeting compliance regulations are all things that enterprise’s are concerned with on a daily basis. MySQL databases are used in mission-critical applications by large and small organizations, so the real-time high availability failover capability of Alliance Key Manager will make IT administrators very happy. By pairing MySQL and Alliance Key Manager, security teams can rest a little bit easier.”

Alliance Key Manager for MySQL is available for a free 30-day evaluation.

Alliance Key Manager for VMware Cloud on AWS provides customers with dedicated key management in AWS – with no access to encryption keys by cloud service provider (CSP).

Townsend Security today announced Alliance Key Manager is available to customers of VMware Cloud™ on AWS. VMware Cloud on AWS brings together VMware’s enterprise-class Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) software and elastic, bare-metal infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to give organizations consistent operating model and application mobility for private and public cloud. Alliance Key Manager for VMware Cloud on AWS enables the flexibility and security of a native VMware encryption key manager to customers of VMware Cloud on AWS.

As VMware users turn to VMware Cloud on AWS, they bring their sensitive data with them – customer names, email addresses and other personally identifiable information (PII). While compliance regulations require protecting this information, encrypting this data has been a challenge for organizations who want the flexibility and security of a native VMware encryption key manager. By deploying Alliance Key Manager for VMware Cloud on AWS, customers can achieve their security and efficiency goals in a cloud environment.

“With subscription and perpetual licensed options for the Alliance Key Manager for VMware Cloud on AWS, we have licensing options to fit the needs and budgets of our customers. Additionally, there are never extra fees for deploying additional nodes, databases or applications - giving your encryption strategy the freedom to scale without having to come up with budget for added licenses,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO & Founder, Townsend Security.

VMware Cloud on AWS technology partners enable customers to deploy the same proven solutions seamlessly in both the public and private cloud. VMware simplifies the deployment and eliminates the need for partners to refactor solutions for VMware Cloud on AWS. If a partner solution works on-premises in a VMware vSphere environment, it will easily support VMware Cloud on AWS. VMware technology partners complement and enhance native VMware Cloud on AWS service and enable customers to realize new capabilities.

“VMware Cloud on AWS provides customers a seamlessly integrated hybrid cloud offering that gives customers the SDDC experience from the leader in private cloud, running on the leading public cloud provider, AWS,” said Kristen Edwards, director, Technology Alliance Partner Program, VMware. “Solutions such as Alliance Key Manager for VMware Cloud on AWS enable IT teams to reduce cost, increase efficiency, and create operational consistency across cloud environments. We’re excited to work with partners such as Townsend Security to enhance native VMware Cloud on AWS capabilities and empower customers with flexibility and choice in solutions that can drive business value.”

About VMware Cloud on AWS

Delivered, sold and supported by VMware and its channel partners as an on-demand service, and running on elastic, bare-metal AWS infrastructure, VMware Cloud on AWS is powered by VMware Cloud Foundation, the unified SDDC platform that integrates vSphere, VMware vSAN and VMware NSX virtualization technologies. With the same architecture and operational experience on-premises and in the cloud, IT teams can quickly derive business value from use of the AWS and VMware hybrid cloud experience. For more information on the VMware Cloud on AWS partner ecosystem, visit: http://cloud.vmware.com/vmc-aws

Townsend Security‘s product information, collateral and other assets are listed within the online VMware Solution Exchange at https://marketplace.vmware.com/vsx/solutions/alliance-key-manager-for-vmware-cloud-on-aws-4-60?ref=search. The VMware Solution Exchange is an online marketplace where VMware partners and developers can publish rich marketing content and downloadable software for our customers.

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VMware, VMware Cloud, vSphere, Cloud Foundation, vSAN, and NSX are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.           

Townsend Security, today announced that its Alliance Key Manager for VMware has achieved VMware Ready status. This designation indicates that after a detailed validation process Alliance Key Manager for VMware has achieved VMware’s highest level of endorsement and is supported on VMware ESXi  (all supported versions, vSphere 6.5 and later, and vSAN 6.6 and later) for production environments.

“We are pleased that Townsend Security and Alliance Key Manager for VMware qualifies for the VMware Ready logo, signifying to customers that it has met specific VMware interoperability standards and works effectively with VMware cloud infrastructure. This signifies to customers that Alliance Key Manager for VMware can be deployed in production environments with confidence and can speed time to value within customer environments,” said Kristen Edwards, director, Technology Alliance Partner Program, VMware.

By using Alliance Key Manager for VMware with VMware ESXi (all supported versions, vSphere 6.5 and later, and vSAN 6.6 and later) organizations can centrally manage their encryption keys with an affordable FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption key manager. Further, they can use native vSphere and vSAN encryption to protect VMware images and digital assets at no additional cost. VMware customers can deploy multiple, redundant key servers as a part of the KMS Cluster configuration for maximum resilience and high availability.

“By achieving VMware Ready status with Alliance Key Manager for VMware, Townsend Security has been able to work with VMware to bring affordable encryption key management to VMware customers and the many databases and applications they run in VMware,” said Patrick Townsend, CEO of Townsend Security. “Meeting data security compliance in VMware vSphere is now easier than ever.”

The VMware Ready program is a co-branding benefit of the Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program that makes it easy for customers to identify partner products certified to work with VMware cloud infrastructure. Customers can use these products and solutions to lower project risks and realize cost savings over custom built solutions. With thousands of members worldwide, the VMware TAP program includes best-of-breed technology partners with the shared commitment to bring the best expertise and business solution for each unique customer need.

Townsend Security and Alliance Key Manager for VMware can be found within the online VMware Solution Exchange (VSX) at https://tsec.io/VMwareReadyPR. The VMware Solution Exchange is an online marketplace where VMware partners and developers can publish rich marketing content and downloadable software for our customers.

VMware, VSXi, vSphere, vSAN and VMware Ready are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.