Maureen O'Gara

HighCloud Security, one of those rare cloud security start-ups, is warming up to its subject.

A year ago when it first came to market it was focused on encryption and policy-based key management in the private cloud. It has now moved on to the public cloud in rev 2.0 of its widgetry and figures it could change the way companies buy security. After all, encryption isn't reserved to the CIA anymore.

It claims its particular brand of magic is the first cloud encryption solution to let enterprises and cloud service providers lock down data across private, hybrid and public clouds.

It's not something legacy solutions can do; at least not easily; they're hard to manage and hard to deploy, not to mention expensive. And data security is often the gating factor scaring companies off the cloud.

See, virtualization, the foundation of cloud infrastructures, introduces new security and compliance challenges. Data becomes commingled in physical hardware so cloud administrators have much broader access, and backups and snapshots can leave sensitive data highly vulnerable.

HighCloud CEO Bill Hackenberger says HighCloud's vision is "to demystify encryption, making it drop-dead easy to deploy and manage across all cloud infrastructures. The launch of HighCloud 2.0 showcases our commitment to deliver a security solution that supports how organizations want to work with the cloud."

The Virtual Machine Vault widgetry that HighCloud invented for private clouds can't be used on Amazon because it messes with the infrastructure although it can be used in more liberal public clouds.

Amazon users can use HighCloud's new Data Security Module to encrypt their data in storage instead. It works below the application and file system in the guest operating system. The data is encrypted on the way to storage. So are snapshots.

HighCloud Security 2.0 is available now and immediately accessible in both the company's freemium and paid programs. Freebie users can have five VMs; users who want phone support need to pony up $3,000 a year for a VM 10 pack.

HighCloud is still working on the nuances of its SaaS-subscription model.

It's angel-funded and supporting itself with incoming revenues. It expects to go out for a $5 million A round on favorable terms soon. That way it'll get to EMEA.

It competes with Trend Micro, with Porticor coming up on the outside.

HighCloud services big North American enterprises that are reportedly still shy about their names being used.

One thing HighCloud users don't have to worry about is switching clouds. If the original cloud doesn't delete their VMs, the user doesn't have to worry; nobody can get in. The cloud purveyor doesn't control the key so data is secure from creation through decommissioning.

HighCloud reportedly works on any public cloud.