Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Hitachi, Phoenix deliver remote data protection on laptops

San Jose, California and Milpitas, California, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) and Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTEC), today announced a collaboration to provide next-generation mobile PC security on notebooks equipped with Hitachi hard drives.


New laptops with Hitachi hard drives and Phoenix FailSafe theft-deterrence service, will allow the PC owner to track, remotely disable and securely erase the disk drive. As a result, vital data stored on the laptop remains safe and protected. With this partnership, the FailSafe agent can be installed on an encrypted Hitachi hard drive. In the event of laptop theft, if the FailSafe agent is removed by the perpetrator, the authorized owner will be able to remotely re-install the FailSafe agent in the compromised system and take further steps to ensure integrity of the data on the laptop.

"Increasingly, leading notebook PC manufacturers depend on Hitachi to gain a competitive advantage through our hard drives, which include 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) technology to protect consumers' valuable and sensitive information," said Masaru Masuda, Director of Product Planning, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "All of our 2007 and 2008 models of 2.5-inch mobile hard drives can be enabled at the factory to utilize powerful AES-128 encryption engine, which is part of the drive electronics SOC (System-on-Chip). In addition to providing data at rest protection by on the fly data encryption, simple deletion of the 128-bit encryption key enables cryptographically secure erase of the drive. By incorporating Phoenix FailSafe technology with our mobile hard drives, OEMs can deliver advanced security to prevent data loss and theft. The ability to remotely and securely erase or disable disk drives on mobile PCs offers the next-generation protection our customers need to stand apart from competitors."

According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, more than 200 million records containing sensitive personal information -- such as credit cards and social security numbers -- have been exposed through security breaches in the U.S. over the past three years.(1) Research from the Ponemon Institute has found that laptop theft and loss accounts for 45 per cent of data breaches.(2)

"While laptops and notebooks continue to grow in popularity, there is a clear need to provide advanced protection to secure the sensitive files and data stored on them," said Surendra Arora, Vice President of Business Development at Phoenix Technologies. "By partnering with laptop drive manufacturers such as Hitachi, we can help prevent data theft and associated crimes like identity theft by extending FailSafe protection to laptops which contain sensitive personal and professional information. With Phoenix FailSafe protection, PC owners can remotely protect, encrypt and securely erase the vital content stored on their hard drives. FailSafe location-based technology also allows the owner to locate and recover lost or stolen laptops, or even remotely disable the unit if necessary to prevent potential misuse."

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies develops advanced hard disk drives to store and preserve the worlds valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value, high-capacity storage in formats suitable for the office, in the home or on the road. With vertically integrated research, design and manufacturing capabilities, Hitachi GST delivers leadership technology and quality to its global customer base.

With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance storage systems and servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the companys website at www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007) consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion yen ($86.8 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services.

For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

About Phoenix Technologies

Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTEC) is the global market leader in system firmware that provides the most secure foundation for today's computing environments. The PC industry's top builders and specifiers trust Phoenix to pioneer open standards and deliver innovative solutions that will help them differentiate their systems, reduce time-to-market and increase their revenues. The Company's flagship products, AwardCore, SecureCore, FailSafe and HyperSpace, are revolutionizing the PC user experience by delivering unprecedented security, reliability and ease-of-use. The Company established industry leadership with its original BIOS product in 1983, has 155 technology patents and 139 pending applications, and has shipped in over one billion systems. Phoenix is headquartered in Milpitas, California with offices worldwide.

For more information, visit http://www.phoenix.com

Phoenix, Phoenix Technologies, Phoenix FailSafe, HyperSpace, HyperCore, PC 3.0 and the Phoenix Technologies logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has the right to use, market and advertise the brands. The Travelstar trademark is authorized for use in the Americas, EMEA, and the following Asia-Pacific countries and jurisdictions: Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies shall not be liable to third parties for unauthorized use of its trademarks.

Safe Harbor

The statements in this release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding, but not limited to, the expected benefits from Phoenix's partnership with Hitachi and the functionality and features of the Phoenix FailSafe solution. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: technical challenges and delays, including code bugs and glitches; unexpected challenges relating to the relationship between Phoenix and Hitachi; the product offerings of competitors, especially with respect to functionality and time-to-market; price competition; our ability to attract and retain key employees; our ability to successfully market and sell the Phoenix FailSafe solution to our customers; the ability of our customers to introduce and market products that incorporate and leverage the Phoenix FailSafe solution; end-market demand for Phoenix FailSafe; and our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property rights. For a further list and description of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward looking statements in this release, we refer you to Phoenix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon assumptions, forecasts and information available to Phoenix as of the date hereof, and Phoenix assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

(1) A Chronology of Data Breaches, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse/UCAN, www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm#2

(2) Larry Ponemon, Ponemon Data Breach Study, Oct. 2006, www.idtheftcenter.org/artman2/publish/m_facts Facts_and_Statistics.shtml

Contacts
Shauli Chaudhuri
Jim Pascoe
Phoenix Technologies
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
+1-408-570-1060
+1-408-717-7924
Public_relations@phoenix.com
james.pascoe@hitachigst.com
GlobalFluency/Neale-May for Phoenix Technologies
Cedric Vanhaver
+1-650-433-4154
phoenix@globalfluency.com

CONTACT:
Shauli Chaudhuri
of Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
+1-408-570-1060
Public_relations@phoenix.com
or Jim Pascoe
of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
+1-408-717-7924
james.pascoe@hitachigst.com
or Cedric Vanhaver
of GlobalFluency|Neale-May
+1-650-433-4154
phoenix@globalfluency.com
for Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Photo:
NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070410 SFTU048LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk: photodesk@prnewswire.com
Web site:
http://www.hitachi.com
http://www.hitachigst.com
(PTEC HIT)
SOURCE: Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

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