A few vendors, including RSA Security Inc. and nCipher Corp., offer key management software that could exchange keys between applications from the same vendor. But that technology is in its infancy, Ouellet says.

Enterprise digital rights management (DRM) technologies have the potential to streamline this process. DRM offers persistent encryption and security, and rights activity that is defined as part of the file itself. "There's a tag that's assigned to the file. If I want to view or print the file, I have to validate that I have the proper access rights for that activity," Ouellet says. DRM becomes even more important if companies need to distribute protected documents beyond the enterprise. Microsoft and Adobe Systems Inc. are developing DRM products. Adobe plans to ship its LiveCycle Policy Server in the third quarter of this year.

"In five years, DRM is going to be the most pervasive way to protect your data," Ouellet says. "Until then, there is no hybrid right now that covers everything. You're going to have different areas that are covered with different types of technology."

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How long will it be safe?