Grossman thinks LTO-4's encryption chip will become commonplace for all disk and tape drives. Managing the key-based encryption is where more development will happen. "That's the piece that's going to evolve to be a little more sophisticated over time," she says. "I think we will see the whole key management piece becoming more automated, perhaps more policy based.

"Maybe in three or four years, maybe longer, we'll have more customers that encrypt than don't," she continues. "I think we're still in an evolution process of clients trying to decide how they're going to do it."

Fears over lost data and the accompanying PR continue to haunt businesses and drive encryption. "We don't want to be the next organization listed in the newspaper as having their backup tapes lost or stolen without being encrypted," writes Conservation International's Littlefield. "Data theft is just another type of disaster you're trying to protect against."

--Christine Cignoli