Inside System Storage -- by Tony Pearson

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How to make the EncryptStick even better

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Last March, in my blog post [RSA Breach, World Backup Day and the use of Encryption], I mentioned the use of [EncryptStick], a product by ENC Security Systems. Since then, I have thought of some ways that could make it even better.

(FTC Disclosure: I do not work or have any financial investments in ENC Security Systems. ENC Security Systems did not paid me to mention them on this blog. Their mention in this blog is not an endorsement of either their company or any of their products. Information about EncryptStick was based solely on publicly available information and my own personal experiences. My friends at ENC Security Systems provided me a full-version pre-loaded stick for this review.)

The EncryptStick software comes in two flavors, a free/trial version, and the full/paid version. The free trial version has [limits on capacity and time] but provides enough glimpse of the product to decide before you buy the full version. You can download the software yourself and put in on your own USB device, or purchase the pre-loaded stick that comes with the full-version license.

Whichever you choose, the EncryptStick offers three nice protection features:

Encryption for data organized in "storage vaults", which can be either on the stick itself, or on any other machine the stick is connected to. That is a nice feature, because you are not limited to the capacity of the USB stick.
Encrypted password list for all your websites and programs.
A secure browser, that prevents any key-logging or malware that might be on the host Windows machine.

I have tried out all three functions and everything works as advertised. However, there is always room for improvement, so here are my suggestions.

Plausible Deniability

The first problem is that the pre-loaded stick looks like it is worth a million dollars. It is in a shiny bronze color with "EncryptStick" emblazoned on it. This is NOT subtle advertising! This 8GB capacity stick looks like it would be worth stealing solely on being a nice piece of jewelry, and then the added bonus that there might be "valuable secrets" just makes that possibility even more likely.

If you want to keep your information secure, it would help to have "plausible deniability" that there is nothing of value on a stick. Either have some corporate logo on it, of have the stick look like a cute animal, like these pig or chicken USB sticks.

It reminds me how the first Apple iPod's were in bright [Mug-me White]. I use black headphones with my black iPod to avoid this problem.

Of course, you can always install the downloadable version of EncryptStick software onto a less conspicuous stick if you are concerned about theft. The full/paid version of EncryptStick offers an option for "lost key recovery" which would allow you to backup the contents of the stick and be able to retrieve them on a newly purchased stick in the event your first one is lost or stolen.

The Cap

Imagine how "unlucky" I felt when I notice that I had lost my "rabbits feet" on this cute animal-themed USB stick.

I sense trouble for losing the cap on my EncryptStick as well. This might seem trivial, but is a pet-peeve of mine that USB sticks should plan for this. Not only is there nothing to keep the cap on (it slides on and off quite smoothly), but there is no loop to attach the cap to anything if you wanted to.

Since then, I got smart and try to look for ways to keep the cap connected. Some designs, like this IBM-logoed stick shown above, just rotate around an axle, giving you access when you need it, and protection when it is folded closed.

Alternatively, get a little chain that allows you to attach the cap to the main stick. In the case of the pig and chicken, the memory section had a hole pre-drilled and a chain to put through it. I drilled an extra hole in the cap section of each USB stick, and connected the chain through both pieces.

(Warning: Kids, be sure to ask for assistance from your parents before using any power tools on small plastic objects.)

Multi-OS Support

The EncryptStick can run on either Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. The instructions indicate that you can install both versions of download software onto a single stick, so why not do that for the pre-loaded full version? The stick I have had only the Windows version pre-loaded. I don't know if the Windows and Mac OS versions can unlock the same "storage vaults" on the stick.

Certainly, I have been to many companies where either everyone runs Windows or everyone runs Mac OS. If the primary target audience is to use this stick at work in one of those places, then no changes are required. However, at IBM, we have employees using Windows, Mac OS and Linux. In my case, I have all three! Ideally, I would like a version of EncryptStick that I could take on trips with me that would allow me to use it regardless of the Operating System I encountered.

Since there isn't a Linux-version of EncryptStick software, I decided to modify my stick to support booting Linux. I am finding more and more Linux kiosks when I travel, especially at airports and high-traffic locations, so having a stick that works both in Windows or Linux would be useful. Here are some suggestions if you want to try this at home:

Use fdisk to change the FAT32 partition type from "b" to "c". Apparently, Grub2 requires type "c", but the pre-loaded EncryptStick was set to "b". The Windows version of EncryptStick> seems to work fine in either mode, so this is a harmless change.
Install Grub2 with "grub-install" from a working Linux system.
Once Grub2 is installed, you can boot ISO images of various Linux Rescue CDs, like [PartedMagic] which includes the open-source [TrueCrypt] encryption software that you could use for Linux purposes.
This USB stick could also be used to help repair a damaged or compromised Windows system. Consider installing [Ophcrack] or [Avira].
Certainly, 8GB is big enough to run a full Linux distribution. The latest 32-bit version of [Ubuntu] could run on any 32-bit or 64-bit Intel or AMD x86 machine, and have enough room to store an [encrypted home directory].
If you plan to use Firefox's [Private Browsing Mode], I highly recommend using the [NoScript] Firefox plug-in.

Since the stick is formatted FAT32, you should be able to run your original Windows or Mac OS version of EncryptStick with these changes.

Depending on where you are, you may not have the luxury to reboot a system from the USB memory stick. Certainly, this may require changes to the boot sequence in the BIOS and/or hitting the right keys at the right time during the boot sequence. I have been to some "Internet Cafes" that frown on this, or have blocked this altogether, forcing you to boot only from the hard drive.

Well, those are my suggestions. Whether you go on a trip with or without your laptop, it can't hurt to take this EncryptStick along. If you get a virus on your laptop, or have your laptop stolen, then it could be handy to have around. If you don't bring your laptop, you can use this at Internet cafes, hotel business centers, libraries, or other places where public computers are available.

technorati tags: IBM, ENC Security Systems, EncryptStick, encryption, USB, WIndows, MacOS, Linux

Tags: encryptstick usb linux macos windows enc+security+systems encryption ibm

Don't Miss IBM Storage Technical University 2011

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In less than a month, I will be presenting at the annual IBM Storage Technical University, July 18-22, at the Hilton in Orlando, Florida. This is one of my favorite conferences! You can sign up for this at their [Online Registration Page].

I will be covering a variety of topics:

IBM Storage Strategy in the Era of Smarter Computing - After IBM has led the IT industry through the "Centralized Computing" era, and then later the "Distributed Computing" era, we are now entering the third era, that of Smarter Computing. Come learn IBM's strategy for Storage to address today's big challenges, including Big Data, Integrated Workload-optimized systems, and Cloud service delivery models.
IBM Information Archive for Email, Files and eDiscovery - This session will cover the latest announcement for our non-erasable, non-rewriteable compliance storage, the Information Archive (IA), how this can be used to protect your emails and files, and provide indexed search to assist with eDiscovery.
IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center Overview and Update - I was one of the original lead architects for Productivity Center. Come learn what this software is all about, and how the latest features and functions can help you manager your IT environment.
IBM SONAS and the Smart Business Storage Cloud - Confused about Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage? I will explain everything you need to know, including how the integrated SONAS appliance operates, IBM's customized solutions for private cloud deployments, and IBM's public cloud offerings.
BOF on Social Media - BOF stands for "Birds of a Feather", and his normally an after-hours discussion on a single theme. This BOF will be a four-expert Q&A panel, including myself, John Sing, Rich Swain and Ian Wright. We will discuss how we got started in Social Media, and how it has boosted our careers and our ability to get work done.

I'll be in Orlando, Florida all week for this conference. I hope you can make it! To learn more, see the [Technical University Event Page].

technorati tags: IBM, storage, Technical University, Information Archive, Tivoli Storage, Productivity Center, Smarter Computing, SONAS, Smart Business, Storage Cloud, BOF, Social Media, Orlando, Florida

Tags: sonas tivoli+storage storage technical+university productivity+center information+archive social+media storage+cloud florida orlando bof smart+business smarter+computing ibm

Photos from Tucson IBM Centennial Celebration

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Last Thursday, on IBM's 100-year anniversary, we had a huge turn-out for the celebration here at the IBM Development Lab site in Tucson, AZ. Employees brought in memorabilia that reminded them of the past 100 years.

Everyone got a black tee-shirt with the original IBM logo. There was plenty of music, food and drink, as well as a few speeches by former and current IBM executives.

Now, the fun begins on the next century of IBM. What will be in store for the world in the 21st century? We live in interesting times!

Tags: #ibm100 tucson ibm

IBM is Making the World Work Better

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Today, IBM celebrates its 100 year anniversary. Today, is also my 25th anniversary with IBM, which I [celebrated last week].

Yesterday, I received a copy of the book [Making the World Work Better -- The Ideas that Shaped a Century and a Company] that was sent to every IBMer. IBM commissioned three journalists to write their perspective on the company and its history. IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano wrote the foreword.

Kevin Maney

Kevin Maney was a reporter, editor and columnist for [USA Today], contributing editor for Conde Nast Portfolio, and contributor to [Fortune], [Wired], [the Atlantic], [NPR], and [ABC News]. He has also written several books, including [Megamedia Shakeout: The Inside Story of the Leaders and the Losers in the Exploding Communications Industry], [Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't], and [Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM].

Kevin's perspective focused on the evolution over the past 100 years of "information science", in six chapters: sensing, memory, processing, logic, connecting, and architecture. He covers the technology from IBM Punched Cards and core memory, to the latest optical chips and the DeepQA technology in IBM Watson.

Steve Hamm

Steve Hamm has been a journalist for the past 30 years, including two decades covering the computer industry for [BusinessWeek]. He has written several books, including [Bangalore Tiger] about rewriting the rules of global competition, and [Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Portable Computer ].

Steve's perspective was on IBM as a corporation, and how IBM and other corporations have evolved over the past century. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, "Internationals" had their headquarters in the United States, and regional sales and distribution offices elsewhere. The mid-20th century gave rise to "Multinationals" that invested more heavily in regional headquarters scattered across the globe. Today, in the 21st century, IBM and its clients are [Globally Integrated Entrprises] that move work to the lowest costs, best skills, and most attractive business climates.

Jeffrey M. O'Brien

Jeffrey M. O'Brien has been a senior editor [Fortune] and [Wired] magazines, and his work has appeared in The Best of Technology Writing, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The Best American Science Writing.

Jeffrey's perspective is on the impact technology has on humanity, organized into five steps towards progress: Seeing, Mapping, Understanding, Believing, and Acting. These steps have been around long before IBM, and Jeffrey is able to draw parallels to such efforts as Lewis & Clark mapping out the Louisiana Purchase, advancements in genetically modified foods, and the thousands of IBMers required to land a man on the moon.

This afternoon, everyone at the IBM Tucson site will be getting together to celebrate IBM's Centernnial!

technorati tags: books, Sam Palmisano, #ibm100, ibm, Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm, Jeffrey O'brien

Tags: jeffrey+obrien ibm sam+palmisano #ibm100 kevin+maney steve+hamm books

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Tucson EBC

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This week, IBM celebrates its Centennial, 100 years since its incorporation on June 16, 1911.

A few months ago, the Tucson Executive Briefing Center ordered its latest IBM System Storage [DS8800] to be on display for demos. This was manufactured in Vác, Hungary (about an hour north of Budapest), and was going to be shipped over to the United States.

However, Sam Palmisano, IBM Chairman and CEO, was in Hannover, Germany for the [CeBIT conference] and wanted this DS8800 to be re-directed to Germany first for this event. He was kind enough to sign it for us. Brian Truskowski, IBM General Manager for Storage, and Rod Adkins, IBM Senior Vice President for IBM Systems Technolgoy Group (and my fifth-line manager), also signed this as well!

I am pleased to say this "signed" DS8000 has arrived to Tucson. This is the latest model in a family of market-leading high-end enterprise-class disk systems designed to attach to all computers, including System z mainframes, POWER systems running AIX and IBM i, as well as servers running HP-UX, Solaris, Linux or Windows.

For more on IBM's other innovations over the past 100 years, check out the [Icons of Progress], which includes these storage innovations:

If you are planning a visit to Tucson, please ask for a tour to see this DS8800, a historic monument to disk innovation!

technorati tags: IBM, Tucson, EBC, DS8800, CEO, Chairman, Sam Palmisano, Brian Trukowski, Rod Adkins, mainframe, AIX, Linux, Windows

Tags: ceo ibm sam+palmisano mainframe windows chairman ebc aix linux rod+adkins brian+trukowski ds8800 tucson

Tony Pearson Joins the Quarter Century Club

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This Thursday, June 16, 2011, marks IBM's Centennial 100 year anniversary. It happens to also be my 25th anniversary with IBM Storage. To avoid conflicts in celebrations, we decided to celebrate my induction into the "Quarter Century Club" (QCC) last Friday instead.

My colleague Harley Puckett was master of ceremonies. Here he is presenting me with a memorial plaque and keychain. Harley mentioned a few facts about 1986, the year I started working for IBM. Ronald Reagan was the US President, gasoline cost only 93 cents per gallon, and the US National Debt was only 2 trillion US dollars!

Here are my colleagues from DFSMShsm. From left to right: Ninh Le, Henry Valenzuela, Shannon Gallaher, and Stan Kissinger. I started in 1986 as aa software developer on DFHSM, and slowly worked my way up to be a lead architect of DFSMS.

Here are my colleagues from Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM). From left to right: Matt Anglin, Ken Hannigan and Mark Haye. I first met them when they worked in DFDSS, having moved from San Jose, CA down to Tucson. While I never worked on the TSM code itself, I did co-author some of the patents used in the product and other products like the 3494 Virtual Tape Server that makes use of TSM internally. I also traveled extensively to promote TSM, often with a TSM developer tagging along so they can learn the ropes about how to travel and make presentaitons.

Here are my colleagues from the disk team. From left to right: Joe Bacco, Carlos Pratt, Gary Albert, and Siebo Friesenborg. I worked on the SMI-S interface for the ESS 800 and DS8000 disk systems needed for the Tivoli Storage Productivity Center. Joe leads the "Disk Magic" tools team. Carlos and I worked on qualifying the various disk products to run with Linux on System z host attachment. Gary Albert is the Business Line Executive (BLE) of Enterprise Disk. Siebo Friesenborg was a disk expert on performance and disaster recovery, but is now enjoying his retirement.

Here are my colleagues from the support team. From left to right: Max Smith, Dave Reed, and Greg McBride. I used to work in Level 2 Support for DFSMS with Max and Dave, carrying a pager and managing the queue on RETAIN. We had enough people so that each Level 2 only had to carry the pager two weeks per year. On Monday afternoons, the person with the pager would give it to the next person on the rotation. On Monday, September 10, 2001, I got the pager, and the following morning, it went off to help all the many clients affected by the September 11 tragedy.

I worked with Greg McBride when he was in DFSMS System Data Mover (SDM), and then again in Tivoli Storage Productivity Center for Replication (TPC-R), and now he is supporting IBM Scale-Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS).

Standing in the light blue striped shirt is Greg Van Hise, my first office-mate and mentor when I first joined IBM. He went on to be part of the elite "DFHSM 2.4.0" prima donna team, then move on to be an architect for Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM).

I wasn't limited to inviting just coworkers, I was also able to invite friends and family. Here are Monica, Richard, and my mother. Normally, my parents head south for the summer, but they postponed their flights so that they could participate in my QCC celebration.

From left to right: my father, Greg Tevis, and myself. It was pure coincidence that my father would wear a loud darkly patterned shirt like mine. Honestly, we did not plan this in advance. Greg Tevis and I were lead architects for the Tivoli Storage Productivity Center, and Greg is now the Technology Strategist for the Tivoli Storage product line.

Here is Jack Arnold, fellow subject matter expert who works with me here at the Tucson Executive Briefing Center, sampling the food. We had quite the spread, including egg rolls, meatballs, luncheon meats, chicken strips, and fresh vegetables.

More colleagues from the Tucson Executive Briefing Center, from left to right, Joe Hayward, Lee Olguin, and Shelly Jost. Joe was a subject matter expert on Tape when I first joioned the EBC in 2007, but he has moved back to the Tape development/test team. Lee is our master "Gunny" sargeant to manage all of our briefing schedules. Shelly is our Client Support Manager, and was the one who organized all the food and preparations for this event!

Lastly, here are Brad Johns, myself, and Harley Puckett. Brad was my mentor for my years in Marketing, and has since retired from IBM and now works on his golf game. I would like to thank all of the Tucson EBC staff for pulling off such a great event, and all my coworkers, friends and family for coming out to celebrate this milestone in my career!

In addition to the plaque and keychain, Harley presented me with a book of congratulatory letters. If you would like to send a letter, it's not too late, contact Mysti Wood (mysti@us.ibm.com).

technorati tags: IBM, IBM100, QCC, Tucson, EBC, DFSMS, DFSMShsm, DFHSM, TSM, TPC

Tags: qcc ebc tsm ibm dfhsm tucson dfsmshsm tpc dfsms ibm100

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