Mathon describes itself as supplying information risk management systems for the financial industry, and has integrated its product with Google’s search appliances. The company’s software already uses the open source Java-based Lucene search engine to index file contents, but says that the Lucene engine is not as comprehensive as the Google engine.
The results of Mathon’s meta-data classification of data are passed to the Google device in order to help it refine its search results, said Mathon CEO Angus MacDonald.
Because search indexes take time to create, and can occupy anything between around 10% and 30% of the volume of the original data, customers already using the Google engine will benefit from a reduced overhead, Mathon claimed.
Mathon’s Windows or Linux-based software runs on an in-band appliance, examining file meta and file contents to identify sensitive data and take policy-based actions, such as the application of access controls or retention locks. That puts the company into an emerging field that is currently labeled either as ICM, information classification management, or IIM, intelligent information management, software.
Another ICM player that has also integrated its system with Google’s search appliance is Kazeon Inc.
Mathon began shipping its systems around the beginning of the year, but did not start selling in earnest until this summer. MacDonald said that Mathon’s customer count is entering double digits.
