Zettaset: The Leader in Big Data Security

“Every company has Big Data in its business and will eventually be in the data business.” – Thomas H. Davenport

The expansiveness and complexity of Big Data has rendered traditional data processing, storage, and security solutions as inadequate. The highly-scalable distributed computing architectures that provide the infrastructure for Big Data cannot be effectively addressed by legacy technologies that were originally designed for monolithic relational database environments. Based out of Mountain View, CA, USA, Zettaset is an ISV that creates data security software optimized for Big Data environments and distributed computing architectures, and is transparent and compatible with open source Hadoop distributions, NoSQL and relational databases. Data encryption, access-control, and integrity solutions from Zettaset are uniquely designed and optimized for scale and performance in today’s complex and demanding distributed-computing environments.

Originally founded in 2009 as Go2Metrics, the name was changed to Zettaset in 2011. Zettaset initially developed an automated and highly-secure management platform for Hadoop clusters called Orchestrator. As the Hadoop market matured and management platforms from Hortonworks and Cloudera gained dominance, Zettaset focused exclusively on developing data-centric security solutions for Big Data, including Hadoop, NoSQL and Relational data center environments.

The Big Data Security Specialist
Zettaset is a leader in security technology for Big Data. The company pioneered the development of access control and encryption solutions for highly-scalable distributed Big Data systems like Hadoop and NoSQL. The Zettaset encryption suite was developed and refined in response to the needs of enterprise Hadoop users who were dissatisfied with the gaps that exist in open source security products. For example, open source encryption products lack standards-based interoperability with the KMIP-compliant key managers and PKCS#11 HSMs that supply the basic infrastructure for encryption in most enterprises today.

Customers rely on Zettaset to deliver advanced Big Data security solutions that are simple to deploy and easy to fit into existing IT security and policy frameworks. Currently focused in the North American geography, partners and enterprise customers find Zettaset’s products to be highly effective data protection solutions. Because Zettaset encryption software is optimized for Big Data, its performance can easily scale to accommodate petabyte-level data environments.

Encryption Solutions for Big Data
The Zettaset Big Data Encryption Suite includes two advanced encryption solutions.

BDEncrypt – Partition-level encryption with broad applicability across Hadoop, NoSQL, and Relational environments

BDEncrypt Plus – Selective file-level encryption for Hadoop distributions, plus added data integrity protection

Why the Need for Data Integrity?
While it’s well known that attackers attempt to steal valuable data that can be re-sold, such as credit card and social security numbers, there’s a growing trend by attackers to tamper with data by modifying the contents of an encrypted file, completely undetected. Examples include:

• Malicious insiders inflicting financial damage on a company by tampering with the data that it relies on to make critical business decisions.
• Politically-motivated sabotage of government databases that include personally. Identifiable information such as tax records, social security data, and national security data such as TSA no-fly lists.
• Organized crime altering financial services databases to hide fraudulent activities such as embezzlement and money laundering.

To avoid exposing data to vulnerabilities such as unauthorized modification, an encryption solution with AEAD: Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data is chosen. AEAD prevents tampering with the cipher text itself, and also protects any unencrypted text (associated data) accompanying the cipher text. AEAD encryption is one of the more important recent advances in cryptography, but is not yet widely available.

BDEncrypt Plus from Zettaset is one of the few encryption solutions with built-in AEAD. BDEncrypt Plus encrypts data and also protects the integrity of that data. Integrity is the “plus” that ensures that the data being decrypted is valid and has not been tampered with. In addition, BDEncrypt Plus has been optimized for scalability and ease of use in Big Data environments like Hadoop.

The business benefits of the BDEncrypt Plus data encryption and integrity solution include:

• Detecting data tampering attempts on encrypted data.
• Reducing the negative impacts on brand, and reputation of a data corruption attack.
• Improving trustworthiness and reliability of data.
• Reducing downtime associated with restoring data to its pre-attack state.

Customer Base
Target users of Zettaset Big Data encryption solutions include companies in regulated industries that are audited for data security compliance. These include (but not limited to) financial services, healthcare, retail, and government organizations. The Zettaset Big Data Encryption Suite is marketed to end-users through strategic partners, including IBM Power Systems, HPE Security, Thales e-Security, Utimaco, and Hortonworks.

Future Road Map
The company’s vision for the future is as highlighted below:

• To be the undisputed leader in security solutions that are optimized for performance and scalability in Big Data environments built upon distributed computing architectures.
• Deliver enterprise-hardened software solutions that not only provide data protection, but also maintain the integrity of secured data.
• Provide one-stop data security solutions that are fully-compatible with the leading Hadoop distributions, NoSQL and relational databases
• Ensure that the data security software fits into existing security policy frameworks (such as AD and LDAP) and are based on security industry standards such as key management interoperability protocol (KMIP) and public key cryptography standards (PKCS)
• Facilitate the broader adoption of Big Data technologies like Hadoop and NoSQL in data center environments that require the highest levels of protection and privacy

Knowing the Mastermind 

Jim Vogt, CEO
With 30 years of leadership experience in both start-up and public corporations, Jim brings a wealth of business and technology expertise to his role as president and CEO of Zettaset. Most recently, Jim served as senior vice president and general manager of the Cloud Services business unit at Blue Coat Systems. He has also held executive leadership positions at Trapeze Networks, Ingrian, Nortel, and Bay Networks. Jim holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nevada, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

“We create data security software optimized for Big Data environments and Distributed Computing systems.”