HP Updates Unix Security

The new features include encryption and hardening capabilities focused on data security and compliance issues. Fully integrated into the HP-UX 11i v2 operating environment, the enhancements are free of charge. They also aren't found in any other Unix operating system, the company said.

"Unified protection is critical for companies looking to build a next-generation data center," said Nick van der Zweep, director of virtualization and software at HP. "Our new automated security features proactively mitigate risks, greatly reducing the costs of compliance."

The features include:

-- Encrypted Volume and File System: An operating system-based data encryption system is aimed at helping ensure the confidentiality of critical business information by transparently protecting so-called data-at-rest. The system is designed to automatically encrypt data on storage devices to prevent stolen data from being accessed;

-- Trusted Computing on Integrity: A low-cost embedded security chip option for HP Integrity servers;

-- HP Protected Systems: This applies the technology found in HP-UX Security Containment to allow customers to automatically configure and deploy security. By setting up fine-grained privileges and role-based access control, HP Protected Systems is designed to reduce configuration time and required customer skill level.

Focusing on the compliance arena, HP also is expanding its portfolio of operating system-integrated offerings.

The company is releasing the latest version of HP-UX Bastille, an open-source software tool for security hardening, which now features assessment and drift reporting features that check the consistency of a system's hardening configuration with previously applied hardening policies. With HP Systems Insight Manager, HP's Unified Infrastructure Management software for servers and storage, Bastille is designed to offer efficient multisystem deployment that increases the number of systems manageable by a single administrator.

HP also upgraded its HP-UX AAA server, which is aimed at offering enterprise customers simplified auditing and compliance for more flexible data base integration and easier user authentication. The AAA server provides authentication, authorization, and accounting services using Radius and EAP protocols to authenticate users and then account for time and billing use of network services.