San Francisco, CA and Joensuu, FINLAND – October 30, 2006 – Blancco (www.blancco.com), the global leader in providing highly reliable data destruction solutions, announced today that they will make available donations of their premium-level data erasure software to eligible nonprofit organizations via the nonprofit technology website TechSoup (www.techsoup.org). Each nonprofit organization with 501c3 designation will be entitled to 500 Blancco licenses.

Like commercial enterprises, nonprofits face a critical challenge when they want to recycle, resell, or reuse obsolete computers: the data remaining on the hard drives need to be professionally wiped in order to maximize data security and prevent data leaks or identity theft. Thanks to Blancco and TechSoup, nonprofits will now be empowered with the right technology to sanitize hard drives and to securely dispose of computers.

“Data destruction plays a crucial, yet potentially overlooked role in every organization, including nonprofits, who also struggle with limited monetary resources when it comes to acquiring technology solutions. Therefore, we are proud to partner with TechSoup and offer nonprofits ultimate protection for their highly sensitive data on retired computers. We will provide them with our most complete data erasure software, Blancco – Pro, in the most useful form possible, which is Blancco – WAN Server, “ said Kim Vaisanen, Managing Director of Blancco Ltd.

The technology of Blancco – WAN Server combines the easy-to-use web-based application (blanccoservice.com) with the benefits of Blancco – Pro’s zero-install and highly secure data wipe. The software is operated from a central server, so users do not need to install the software on each computer prior to data wiping. It is designed not only for PCs and laptops but also for servers with several hard drives. After each erasure, a comprehensive report is provided as a tamper-resistant proof of the securely performed disk-wiping process. In addition to the information on the erasure, the report also includes hardware inventory information (e.g. processor, RAM, serial number, etc.) and a hardware check (floppy drive, CD drive, motherboard, memory, pointer, display, keyboard, sound). The reports are sent to Blancco – WAN Server, where they can be browsed, imported, exported, deleted or modified.

Rebecca Masisak, Vice President and General Manager of TechSoup’s product donation service TechSoup Stock, added: ”Data security is one of the most important issues facing users of technology.  Blancco’s donations enable nonprofits to make safe choices when dealing with transferring ownership of computers.   Blancco helps nonprofits both clear data when receiving donated computers and it also assures that a nonprofit’s own information is completely removed before their computers are sent along to new users or refurbishers.”
Details about the program, including eligibility guidelines, can be found at www.techsoup.org/stock.

About TechSoup
TechSoup (www.techsoup.org) is the technology resource for nonprofits created by CompuMentor (www.compumentor.org). Each month, TechSoup’s more than 350,000 unique monthly visitors are looking for nonprofit tech know-how to achieve their missions. TechSoup features more than 400 how-to articles on 17 technology topics, 15 community discussion forums, a technology news section, and the TechFinder service provider directory.

About Blancco
With several million end-users, an impressive clientele and a broad network of trusted partners, Blancco has proved to be the global specialist in the field of professional data destruction and computer reuse management. Founded in 1997, Blancco Ltd. has its corporate headquarters in Joensuu, Finland. Besides its 8 international offices, Blancco has partners in all continents and in more than 20 countries. In 2006 Deloitte ranked Blancco in the Fast 50 one of the fastest growing technology companies in Finland.

Contact
Mr. Kim Väisänen
Managing Director
Blancco Ltd
Länsikatu 15
80110 Joensuu
Finland
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Tel.: +358 207 433 850