Latest software utility and source code from VIA enables enhanced disk wiping performance utilizing the VIA PadLock RNG

Taipei, Taiwan, September 15h 2004 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today made available the VIA PadLock Tru-Delete utility and source code, a new security application that writes over previously deleted files to keep sensitive data away from prying eyes.

The VIA PadLock Tru-Delete utility, the latest addition to the VIA PadLock Software Security Suite, is designed to help protect privacy by saving random data over files that have been deleted, rendering them virtually unrecoverable. When run on a system based on a VIA processor with C5XL or C5P Nehemiah core, the random data is generated by the VIA PadLock RNG resulting in a performance improvement of up to 50% over software-based random number generation.

The VIA PadLock RNG, a key element of the VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite, uses asynchronous multi-byte generation to produce random bits at a blistering pace of between 800,000 to 1,600,000 bits per second, faster than any other known RNG. These accumulate into hardware buffers with no impact on program execution, allowing software to read them at any time. The result is increased overall system performance during disk scrubbing applications, as the VIA PadLock RNG does not rely on CPU cycles to generate random data, leaving more of the system’s resources for other tasks such as playing media files.

“With a large percentage of the theft of proprietary information attributed to stolen notebooks or discarded hard drives, there is growing awareness in the industry of the need to permanently erase sensitive data,” said Justin Hsu, Head of Software Development, VIA Technologies, Inc. “By also providing the source code, we are inviting programmers to use VIA PadLock Tru-Delete as a resource to enable support for the VIA PadLock RNG in disk-scrubbing applications.”

The VIA PadLock RNG is integrated into all VIA processors based on the C5XL or C5P Nehemiah cores, such as the 1GHz VIA C3 processor on the VIA EPIA M10000, PD10000, TC10000 and MII12000 Mini-ITX mainboards. VIA-certified third party programs that also support the VIA PadLock RNG include CyberScrub Professional 3.5 (http://www.cyberscrub.com/cyberscrub/index.php), which features additional functions such as the ability to schedule disk scrubbing operations, password protection, optional confirmation, logging support, and more. More information on the VIA Certification Program can be found at http://www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_certification.jsp.

The VIA PadLock Tru-Delete utility is available from VIA Arena at: http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=78. As part of the VIA PadLock Software Security Suite, VIA also provides the VIA PadLock SDK and the VIA PadLock ZIP utility (http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=406) with accompanying source code as free downloads for developers to use as a resource in integrating support for the VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite.

Additional programming resources for the VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite, such as the VIA PadLock RNG and VIA PadLock ACE programming guides developed by Centaur Technologies, can be found on the VIA website at: http://www.via.com.tw/en/viac3/c3.jsp.

About the VIA PadLock Security Initiative

Comprising the VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite (http://www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_hardware.jsp) and the VIA PadLock Software Security Suite (http://www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_software.jsp), the VIA PadLock Security Initiative is focused on providing key hardware and application level security building blocks that can be easily integrated into any computing and communications infrastructure.

The VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite is integrated into VIA C5P Nehemiah core processors and features the VIA PadLock RNG for high quality key generation and the VIA PadLock ACE (Advanced Encryption Engine) for high speed performance of the US government approved Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The VIA PadLock Software Security Suite consists of the VIA PadLock ZIP utility, the VIA PadLock Tru-Delete utility, the VIA PadLock SDK and accompanying source codes.

More information on the VIA PadLock Security Initiative may be found at the VIA website at: http://www.via.com.tw/en/padlock/padlock_initiative.jsp.