A leading European data loss prevention (DLP) software manufacturer has opened up shop in North America.
Prague-based Safetica Technologies announced today the launch of a North American division, based in Newton, North Carolina and led by veteran tech investor Luke Walling, that will focus on developing DLP software for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across Canada and the U.S.
“It’s an enormous, untapped market,” Walling, who will serve as Safetica North America’s general manager, tells ITBusiness.ca. “When you think about what ‘data leakage’ actually entails – the salesperson who takes their customer list when they leave, the medical office administrator who accidentally CCs patient information to the wrong email – you realize these are everyday problems for small businesses that, to this point, nobody’s solved.”
There are, of course, lots of DLP solutions available for the enterprise, he says, but as Safetica has proven in more than 50 countries since 2009, small businesses often need help even more.
Unlike the majority of DLP software, which Walling dismisses as needlessly expensive and complex, Safetica’s DLP solution has been designed from the ground up with SMBs in mind: It’s easy to use, helps management easily comply with international regulations, and is supported by Safetica’s team of experts both before and after deployment at no additional charge.
“Safetica’s sweet spot is very much 250 seats and less,” explains Walling, who has advised or invested in dozens of companies since the early 2000s, including AVG and Avast Software. “That’s not where we stop, but we’ve found that the company’s simplified user experience resonates most with that size, which is still firmly in the small business category here in the U.S.”
Designed for businesses that lack the benefits of a large IT department or extensive security expertise, Safetica’s dashboard interface simply requires companies to define the security standards they need to meet, such as the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); the corporate corruption-targeting Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX); or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS); and allows managers to monitor how data is accessed and transferred on all local, external, network, and cloud servers across the company.
The consequences for businesses that neglect to protect their information can be steep: According to Safetica’s own internal research, 87 per cent of employees leave with company data, the average data breach costs $7 million USD, and all companies share business-related data less than safely.
Among Safetica’s DLP software’s key features:
- An encryption function that allows companies to remotely lock and wipe lost or stolen devices, or render files useless to outsiders should they accidentally be transferred by email, laptop, USB drive, smartphone, or other device;
- A monitoring system that tracks network usage statistics, measuring the amount of time workers spend on websites such as Facebook and YouTube – or even looking for other jobs – rather than company applications, thus potentially helping managers identify employees who have become disengaged with a company and are ready to quit and potentially steal sensitive data;
- Alerts that tell business users when data is being used in a potentially unsafe way, helping employees prevent data leaks before they happen;
- Pre-subscription evaluation, including a free risk assessment and data audit, to help businesses identify how employees are using data and where their information is most vulnerable.
Safetica’s DLP software is available immediately, with subscriptions starting at $46 per endpoint per year. Visit the company’s website to learn more.
