Blancco
Blancco Ltd. is an international data security company that specializes in data erasure and computer reuse for corporations, governments[1] and computer remarketing companies.[2] Founded and headquartered in Joensuu, Finland, the company operates from offices across Europe, North America, The Middle East, Russia, Asia and Australasia. Blancco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Regenersis, a strategic outsourcing company to consumer technology companies.[3]
Corporation
History
In 1997, Janne Tervo and Kim Väisänen co-founded Carelian Innovation Ltd. The company’s first data erasure product, Blancco Data Cleaner, was released in 1999. Then, in 2000, Carelian Innovations Ltd. changed its name to Blancco Ltd.
Sun Microsystems and Blancco formed a partnership in 2007 to deliver secure and flexible data erasure solutions. In 2007 when Blancco was approved and included in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC). The company expanded its product line in 2008 with the introduction of the Blancco 4.5 client series for added server support, and the Data Center Edition, which enables safe reuse of the hard drives in mass storage environments for clients such as Sun, HP and EMC that need deep data expunging.[4]
The company released Blancco Mobile for smartphone erasure in 2012. In 2011, Blancco LUN was launched and in 2012 Blancco 5 and Management Console 3 were released. The company also acquired DBAN in 2012 and received Common Criteria certification that same year.
Blancco was acquired by Regenersis in April 2014.[5]
Leadership
- Kim Väisänen, Managing Director
- Daniel Smith, International Sales Director
- Mark Lambton, Financial Director
- Sami Tuupanen, Director of Products and Services
Board of directors
- Jog Dhody (CFO Regenersis), Chairman
- Kim Väisänen, Managing Director
Products
Blancco’s data wipe products scale from a single, reusable PC erasure tool to software for erasure requirements in mass storage environments and data centers. The various versions support erasure of different hardware configurations.
Supported hardware erasure
PC Edition | Server Edition | SPARC Edition | Data Center Edition | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of hard drives supported | 4 | 16 | 200+ | 200+ |
Overwrite IDE, SATA, SCSI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Overwrite SAS hard disks | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
SSD erasure | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Freeze lock removal | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Overwrite Fibre Channel hard disks | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Overwrite USB hard disks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Erase several disks simultaneously | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
RAID dismantling | Yes | Yes | ||
Overwrite HPA and DCO areas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Overwrite IDE, SAS and SCSI remapped sectors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hardware testing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Certifications
Blancco’s security certificates and approvals include: Common Criteria (ISO 15408)[6] and Communications Electronics Security Group: United Kingdom Information Technology Group (CESG)[7]
Approvals and recommendations
NATO (listed in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue)[8]
Awards
- 2013 Strongest Company in Finland of Suomen Asiakastieto Oy[9]
- 2013 Tivi Company of the Year Award from Tietoviiko ICT Magazine[10]
- 2012 Company of the Year from Kauppalehti and the OP-Pohjola Group[11]
- 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Finland[12]
- 2012 President of the Republic of Finland's Internationalization Award[13]
References
- “Reusing hardware: Erase data but leave an audit trail - California county extends IT life with auditable data erasure,” Government Computer News, (Dec. 1, 2010)
- “SRS partners with Blancco to wipe out business risk for clients,” Recycling Today, (June 22, 2010) Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- “Regenersis purchase of Blancco exploits data privacy push,” Financial Times, (April 16, 2014)
- "Deep Data Erasure from Blancco,” Ferris Research, (Sept. 4, 2008)
- "Regenersis To Acquire Blancco In EUR 60 Mln Deal - Quick Facts ,” RTT News, (March 31, 2014) Archived August 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- "Certification Report ANSSI-CC-2012/04 Blancco Erasure Software for x86 architecture, version 5.1.0," Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security (France), (Jan. 27, 2012)
- CESG website: CC & ITSEC product details, September 2010 Archived December 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- NATO Information Assurance Product Catalogue (NIAPC) Archived June 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- "Suomen Asiakastieto Oy has chosen Blancco Oy Ltd from Joensuu as the Strongest Company in Finland in 2013 and also the Strongest Company in North Karelia," www.finska.fi Archived December 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- "Tivi Company of the Year Award," www.tietoviikko.fi Archived December 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- "Company and Business Manager awards for 2012," www.pohjola.fi
- "World Entrepreneur Of The Year: Country winners," www.ey.com
- "Internationalization Awards of the President of the Republic of Finland go to Rovio, L-Fashion Group, and Blancco," www.finpro.fi (Jan. 31, 2013)