IDC believes that full disk encryption on all corporate computers, as part of an overall enterprise data protection strategy, especially on laptops, is a highly cost-effective way for enterprises and businesses to successfully maintain the confidentiality of business, employee, and personal customer data and intellectual property.

Key management and policy management are equally important components of a comprehensive corporate encryption strategy. Encryption can completely eliminate the business risks associated with a breach that results in the disclosure of confidential data. Encryption provides enterprise management with a peace of mind that even if systems are lost, the data on them is fully protected. To achieve these benefits effectively, a solution must make the administration of keys and policy automatic and easy to use for administrators.
In this white paper, we review the driving factors behind the increasing use of laptops in business activities, look at the data and information security issues associated with laptop systems, discuss the overall benefits and challenges of encryption as an effective mechanism in mitigating the increasing threat of lost business and personal data, present the overall benefits of full disk encryption, and introduce PGP Corporation's highly effective approach to the implementation, rollout, and management of a full disk encryption system.