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Adhaero Doc is not a general-purpose encryption product, but it uses encryption technology to secure Microsoft Office files throughout their lifecycle. It also integrates with Microsoft Outlook to provide the same protection to emails. It is best described as a digital rights management product.

Dekart Security Suite comprises four separate applications that support all 32-bit versions of Windows and share the same two-factor authentication feature, which uses a PIN code and a USB token or smart card. You can use most third-party tokens and smart cards. Additionally, most types of Bio API and HA API compatible biometric verification devices are supported.

DESlock+ is designed to encrypt files, folders, email messages and email attachments. It uses a choice of 112-bit 3DES, 128-bit Blowfish or 128-bit AES encryption algorithms and works with Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.

Encryption Plus Hard Disk encrypts entire hard disks or selected partitions. Encryption of the OS files is optional. It also offers pre-boot authentication whether or not the operating system files are encrypted.

FileAssurity Open PGP is designed to be a low-cost alternative to PGP, while retaining full compatibility with PGP. With it, you can generate, import and export X.509 and PGP keys and it also supports encryption/decryption and digital signing/verifying of standard PGP files. Files or folders may be encrypted for storage or transmission by email. Bulk data encryption is carried out using 256-bit AES, with public-key-based Diffie-Hellman being used for session key exchange. RSA and DSS are used for digital signatures. Another feature is secure deletion according to U.S. government DOD 5220.22M. All 32-bit Windows platforms are supported.

RSA SureFile combines RSA's encryption technology alongside PKWARE's PKZIP to create an encryption product that also compresses files and folders to save space and bandwidth. Because encrypted files are generally fairly random looking, they are incompressible by hardware that may be part of a bandwidth-saving infrastructure. So, it is better to compress files before encryption, or optimize both processes within one product as RSA Security has done.

SecureDoc is a disk encryption product that codes the entire hard disk, including operating system files and boot sector. Therefore it provides authentication of the user before the computer even boots up. It can also be used to encrypt all types of removable drives and media, including Flash cards. Although it can be installed in a password-only single-user environment, it provides an upgrade path to full enterprise-wide PKI and two- and three-factor authentication, integrating with third-party tokens.

Encryption is becoming an essential tool in modern business, partly due to the increasing use of mobile computing says Geoff Marshall

One very important area of email security is encryption. Unless you are using leased lines or virtual private networks (VPNs) to transmit information, the moment an email leaves your firewall it is at the mercy of the internet. Emails can be intercepted and read without your even knowing about it, which poses a terrible risk for corporate information. However, encrypting the email does give you a high degree of ­ reassurance.

PC Guardian provides a nifty little program called Encryption Plus Email that allows you to encrypt email body text and any attachments. The email product is very easy to install - full installation of the administration program takes less than a minute. The product is designed for individual use, so the administrator installs it on each workstation, then configures it centrally and rolls out the user files across the network. Encryption Plus Email is only available for Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook, but since these two cover a large proportion of companies this shouldn't be a problem.