Content

Venafi Encryption Director v5

Encryption Director from Venafi takes a different approach to policy and compliance management. It focuses on ensuring that encryption technologies used throughout the enterprise meet compliance needs. The product does this by automatically inspecting systems to discover in-place encryption technologies and then cataloging the certificates and keys it finds. The system then monitors discovered and previously known certificates and keys, and alerts administrators according to policy of upcoming expirations and required maintenance.

Installation was simple and straightforward. The single executable installer launches a setup wizard, which leads through the process of not only installing the services and the web console, but also setting up the initial private keys. After installation is complete, all management is done through the web-based management console. We found this console to be fairly easy to use and navigate, but we did find initial configuration to be a bit confusing.

This tool can search and discover the already existing certificates throughout the enterprise and inventory them to be sure that they all meet the compliance needs of the environment. This discovery process can also help weed out potential problem certificates, expired certificates, or even rogue certificate authorities. Encryption Director can work with SSL, SSL-EV, TLS, SMTP and self-signed certificates, and provides an inventory so administrators can easily spot and remediate problems.

Documentation included both installation and administrator guides, as well as some other integration guides all in PDF format. We found all the documentation to be easy to follow with many step-by-step instructions, screen shots and configuration examples.

Venafi offers standard and premium support at an extra cost. Support options include both phone and email technical support, as well as access to a small web-based support portal. Customers can use this portal to track support cases and submit new ones. Venafi does not offer an online knowledge base or support resource area on the website.

At a price ranging from $35 to $275 per managed asset, we find this product to be a good value for the money. All in one tool, Encryption Director handles a problem that can plague many enterprises and cause many security risks.

Product title
Venafi Encryption Director v5
Product info
Name: Venafi Encryption Director Description: Solid certificate encryption management and policy compliance. Price: $35 to $275 per managed asset
Strength
Solid certificate encryption management and policy compliance.
Weakness
Focuses only on certificate management and no other policy compliance.
Verdict
If you need to focus on encryption, this is your best bet.

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