Phison and Cigent Deliver Advanced Cybersecurity Protection in Storage Controllers and Firmware

“Cigent Secure SSD™ Ready” program to combat sophisticated threats and safeguard storage products, vulnerable endpoints, and removable media

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX: 8299), a global leader in NAND flash and storage solutions, and Cigent® Technology, Inc., the leader in embedded cybersecurity technology, today announced an innovative partnership program called Cigent Secure SSD™ Ready. This strategic partnership embeds select Phison storage devices and controllers with Cigent’s built-in cybersecurity enhancements - features that Phison’s storage partners can easily switch on and resell as an option to their global channel partners and customers.

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Phison and Cigent introduced a Secure SSD™ Ready program to fight cyber threats. (Graphic: Phison)

“We couldn’t be more excited about our exclusive partnership with Cigent to equip selected Phison products with the most secure storage solution on the market,” said Sebastien Jean, CTO, Phison. “Phison OEM partners and PC OEMs now have a turnkey solution that provides unparalleled storage-based data security across the entire storage ecosystem/PC supply chain.”

Existing software-based security solutions are ineffective at protecting data on endpoints or removable media. Sophisticated adversaries often launch enterprise-wide attacks at a single endpoint, bypassing or disabling software-based protections. A Ponemon Institute study found that 68 percent of organizations have experienced an endpoint attack that successfully compromised data or IT infrastructure. The same report found endpoint-initiated attacks increased nearly 70 percent year over year.

“Our alliance with Phison makes it easy for Phison’s storage partners to deliver next-gen data security to customers that require enhanced endpoint data protection in order to defend sensitive information from today’s increasingly sophisticated threats,” said John Benkert, CEO of Cigent Technology, Inc.

Phison and Cigent have closely collaborated to embed security protections directly into the storage device, guarding against all known attacks. Critical features of the Cigent Secure SSD Ready firmware include:

• Rendering secured portions of a drive unreadable and therefore invisible at the sector level.
• Keys derived from user-supplied credentials use the maximum length allowed and are never stored in their final form.
• Keep-Alive heartbeat detects if security software is disabled and automatically hides data.
• Secure data access logs are stored in firmware and cannot be altered or wiped.
• True Erase™ data destruction verification ensures complete data erasure.
• Dual-Mode delivers two distinct drives on a single SSD with the ability for independent operating systems entirely invisible to each other at the BIOS level – thus creating a secret and secure drive that adversaries cannot access or even know to exist.
• Cigent’s cloud-based management console enables enterprise-wide data security, zero-trust data security controls, and integration with existing security solutions.

“Kanguru is a leading supplier of secure storage solutions. We are excited to leverage the Cigent Secure SSD Ready program to enable our customers to leverage the combined protection of the Kanguru and Cigent technology suites to protect their data from all attacks,” said Nate Cote, EVP, Kanguru.

About Cigent

Cigent® protects your most valuable asset – your data – with Cigent Secure SSDs™ that prevent compromise by attackers who gain remote or physical access to a device and zero trust access controls that protect individual files wherever they go. Funded by In-Q-Tel™ and founded by experts in storage, data forensics, and cybersecurity to develop a new standard in data protection. For more information, please visit www.cigent.com.

About Phison

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX:8299) is a global leader in NAND Flash controller IC and storage solutions. We provide a variety of services from controller design, system integration, IP licensing to total turnkey solutions, covering applications across SSD (PCIe/SATA/PATA), eMMC, UFS, SD and USB interfaces, reaching out to consumer, industrial and enterprise markets. As an active member of industry associations, Phison is on the Board of Directors for SDA, ONFI, UFSA and a contributor for JEDEC, PCI-SIG, MIPI, NVMe and IEEE-SA.

To learn about Phison, please visit Phison website and read our blog.

About Kanguru

Kanguru is a global leader in manufacturing high-security data storage products, providing a broad range of FIPS 140-2 Certified, AES 256-Bit hardware encrypted Defender® secure SSDs, flash drives, and hard drives. Additionally, Kanguru provides a fully-integrated remote management security platform to help organizations manage their secure Defender devices and enforce their security policies anywhere in the world with the Kanguru Remote Management Console™ (KRMC™). As a TAA compliant manufacturer with convenient features like onboard antivirus, secure firmware, physical write protect switch and more, Kanguru stands out as a world leader in portable data security. For more information on Kanguru, please visit www.kanguru.com.

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