DES offers more flexible alternative to BitLocker

DESLock+ from Data Encryption Systems has been updated to run on Vista and to encypt Outlook emails

Data Encryption Systems (DES) has released an updated version of its DESlock+ PC encryption tool with support for Windows Vista and Microsoft’s new Outlook 2007 email client.

Rather than take the blanket approach of Vista’s BitLocker, the tool lets users choose which files or folders to encrypt.

DESlock+ version 3.2.5 supports PCs running Windows Vista and adds improvements to other features such as synchronisation of encrypted offline data.

The software works with shared keys to make it easier to encrypt shared resources. Each worker has a personal key for data on their hard drive and shared keys to access files on a server.

Version 3.2.5 lets workers store keys on a standard USB Flash drive, rather than on a special token device or a file on the hard drive. It also links with Outlook 2007 to encrypt emails.

Another new feature is a separate synchronisation tool to support local copies of network folders for laptop users. This works like the Offline Files feature of Windows, but encrypts the local copy and supports USB Flash disks as well as the local hard drive.

DES managing director David Tomlinson said his firm did not have to make many changes to support Microsoft’s new platform. He was also relaxed about Vista’s BitLocker encryption tool, which only supports full volume encryption.

“Why would you want to encrypt the operating system, or even every data file? We took the view that users know which data needs protecting,” he said.

Available immediately, DESlock+ costs £50 per user, with each user able to have up to 64 keys.