nuBridges has announced the availability of its nuBridges Protect Token Manager, the industry's first data security software solution to combine universal Format Preserving Tokenization, strong encryption and unified key management in one platform-agnostic package. The new product is for enterprises that need to protect volumes of personally identifiable information (PII) as well as payment card numbers from theft, while reducing complexity and simplifying compliance management for data security standards and privacy laws.

Unlike traditional encryption methods where the encrypted data or "ciphertext" is stored in databases and applications throughout the enterprise, tokenization substitutes a token--or surrogate value--in place of the original data. Tokens can then be passed around the network between applications, databases, and business processes safely, while leaving the encrypted data it represents securely stored in a central data vault.

"Attacks targeting sensitive business and personal data continue to get more sophisticated and stealthy," said John Pescatore, vice president and analyst at Gartner. "The most effective and efficient approach to protecting critical data is to make sure it is stored in the clear in as few places as possible. Technologies that reduce the complexity of doing so are badly needed."

nuBridges Protect Token Manager introduces a new variation of tokenization--"Format Preserving Tokenization"--that reduces security costs and lowers the risk of a data breach. With this format-preserving model, tokens that maintain the length and format of the original data can be generated for all types of sensitive customer, employee and company confidential information. This minimizes impact on existing systems because the token matches the format of the original value. nuBridges Protect Token Manager further benefits enterprises by:

• Reducing sensitive data storage footprint. By centralizing encrypted data storage in a single location within the enterprise, multiple points of risk are eliminated and security management is simplified.
• Enforcing strict 1-to-1 relationships between tokens and data values. This ensures referential integrity whenever an encrypted field is present across multiple applications and data sets, enabling data and trend analysis to continue uninterrupted.
• Maintaining internal data security control. Unlike outsourced tokenization models, the nuBridges on-premise software solution allows companies to maintain control of sensitive data and encryption key lifecycle management, including safeguarding the encryption keys that provide authorized access to protected data.
• Narrowing scope for PCI DSS audits. By limiting occurrences of encrypted data to a central vault, organizations can also reduce the number of systems, applications and processes that must comply with the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and other mandates. This, in turn, reduces the time and cost required to pass annual compliance audits.
• Addressing data protection needs. This is accomplished across multiple platforms, including mainframe, distributed systems and IBM i; and multiple databases, including Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2 and more.

"An effective element of the data protection strategy for many of our clients is reducing the number of systems that store credit card data by replacing the data with tokens," said Martin Beukhof, president of QBS, an IT consultancy with compliance and risk management practice areas. "Not only does this approach make the environment safer, it also reduces the scope and cost of compliance mandates. We recommend nuBridges to our clients for the simple reason that nuBridges is the clear leader in this space."

nuBridges is currently implementing nuBridges Protect Token Manager for a QBS client that is a $500 million nationwide direct retailer. "nuBridges will simplify PCI DSS compliance as well as governance and risk management for our client," added Beukhof. "That's a powerful combination."

"Data security best practices continue to evolve and many organizations now realize that being ‘compliant' doesn't necessarily equate to being secure," said Gary Palgon, nuBridges vice president of Product Management. "The market has been asking for a centralized token server, and with nuBridges Protect Token Manager, we now deliver an all-in-one solution that includes strong encryption and unified key management for optimal data security."

nuBridges Protect Token Manager is now available. For more information, go to http://www.nubridges.com/solutions/tokenization/ or call (770) 730-3600.

About nuBridges Protect

nuBridges Protect is an integrated encryption, key management, tokenization and logging solution that protects sensitive data at rest in database fields, files, applications and associated backup storage to help companies comply with mandates like PCI DSS, HIPAA and government privacy acts. Proven in production use for business-critical operations, nuBridges Protect is today protecting millions of credit card numbers for some of the most prominent retail brands in the industry.

About nuBridges

nuBridges is a leading provider of software and services to protect sensitive data at rest and in transit, and to transfer data internally or externally with end-to-end security, control and visibility. nuBridges data protection, managed file transfer and B2B integration solutions are used to comply with security mandates and to digitally integrate business processes among enterprises, systems, applications and people. Over 3,000 customers depend on nuBridges secure eBusiness solutions to encrypt millions of credit cards, exchange billions of dollars in B2B transactions and enable countless business-critical file transfers, including Walmart, Amazon.com, Timberland, American Eagle Outfitters, Belk, Bon Ton, John Deere, Wachovia, Sun Trust, AIG, CheckFree, Bank of America and Verizon. nuBridges is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. More information is located at http://www.nubridges.com/.