Case Study: Online Education Provider achieves AES-256 database encryption and enterprise-wide data protection with PKWARE

Online Education Provider Secures Customer Data With PKWARE

Online Education Provider, a fast-growing online education company, faced a sudden contractual requirement to implement AES-256 encryption for data at rest in its SQL database and had a short timeframe to comply. The organization also needed to protect sensitive data on employee desktops, support offshore and onshore teams, and centrally manage policies. After evaluating options it selected PKWARE (Smartcrypt/PKWARE TDE) to meet the AES-256 requirement and broader data-protection needs.

PKWARE installed PKWARE TDE to encrypt the SQL database, deployed PKWARE agents on desktops, and used PKWARE Data Discovery and the Enterprise Manager control panel to automate scanning, classification, and policy enforcement with no additional infrastructure. As a result, the Online Education Provider met its contractual AES-256 obligation and internal goals on schedule, ensured data remained protected even when copied or shared, and immediately planned to extend PKWARE protection to 40 additional servers—demonstrating clear compliance and measurable expansion of coverage.