Winter 2026 Introduces Expanded Platform Support, Azure Key Vault Integration, and Advanced Centralized Key Management Capabilities
NetLib Security, a leader in transparent data encryption, announced the general availability of Encryptionizer Winter 2026, alongside significant upgrades to the Encryptionizer Key Manager (EKM), strengthening centralized encryption and key management in response to the rapidly evolving AI-driven threat landscape.
Encryptionizer Winter 2026 now supports Microsoft SQL Server 2025 and Microsoft Windows Server 2025, ensuring organizations adopting the latest Microsoft technologies can deploy transparent data-at-rest encryption without application rewrites. The platform continues to support legacy Windows versions back to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2012 R2, enabling businesses to secure mission-critical legacy applications without costly migrations.
The release also introduces a new Key Delivery Plugin supporting Azure Key Vault, enhancing secure storage and centralized management of encryption keys across virtual, physical, and cloud environments.
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Redefining Centralized Encryption Management
Encryptionizer Key Manager (EKM) takes Encryptionizer to the next level by allowing organizations to administer encryption policies and manage cryptographic keys from a single, centralized interface. Designed as a cost-effective, easy-to-deploy platform, EKM enables small to medium businesses, organizations, and enterprises of all sizes to configure and control encryption across geographically distributed physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
The upgraded EKM platform empowers administrators to:
- Centralize key lifecycle management
- Enforce consistent enterprise-wide encryption policies
- Strengthen regulatory and privacy compliance
- Simplify administration across distributed infrastructures
By consolidating encryption oversight, organizations can more effectively meet evolving privacy standards while reducing operational complexity.
Encryption in the Age of AI
“Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally changed the threat landscape,” said David Stonehill, CTO of NetLib Security. “As AI continues to evolve, attacks will become more convincing, more automated, and harder to detect. But encryption, properly implemented, remains one of the few controls that doesn’t rely on predicting attacker behavior.”
NetLib Security’s Encryptionizer continues to use the strongest available ciphers and includes advanced controls that allow applications to be locked to specific machines, users, and network environments. Even if data is accessed or copied, it remains unreadable without authorized keys and approved context.
“With the Winter 2026 release and the enhancements to Encryptionizer Key Manager, we’re giving organizations centralized control and stronger protection exactly where it matters most,” continued Stonehill. “Encryptionizer’s approach has always been to make stolen data useless. Locking applications to specific machines, users, and network contexts ensures that even if encrypted files are exfiltrated, they remain unusable outside their intended environment. That design choice matters more in an AI era than it ever did before.”
The platform supports encryption for all editions of SQL Server, including Express and LocalDB, as well as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Microsoft Access, Visual FoxPro, custom applications, and proprietary data formats.
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