SAN FRANCISCO -- nCipher plc (LSE: NCH), a global leader in protecting critical enterprise data, announces that its portfolio of FIPS-validated hardware security modules (HSMs) are the first to offer support for PCI Express (PCIe), the successor to the PCI interface.

The use of hardware security devices is a firmly established best practice for protecting cryptographic keys, with HSMs overcoming many of the inherent security weaknesses of running business software on general purpose servers. However, as servers and PCs become faster and smaller the internal interfaces that support plug-in components such as HSMs are periodically redefined: as a result, server platforms equipped with the most recent PCIe interface are now becoming increasingly common. By supporting PCIe within its HSM portfolio nCipher allows enterprises to extend hardware-based cryptographic protection to these next generation platforms.

"As the leading provider of HSMs we pride ourselves on delivering to our customers not only the best solutions to overcome the problems associated with software security, but also provide the assurance that our products integrate and are fully compatible with the latest in server technology," says Mark Knight, product manager at nCipher. "Customers expect nCipher to be at the leading edge of cryptographic security and our support of PCIe is another example of nCipher meeting those needs."

nCipher Corp. Ltd.