A Dutch security software firm set up by a Ukrainian software engineer who worked on the Mir space station has expanded into the UK. Amsterdam-based TrustWorks Systems NV sees the UK as a major market for its range of virtual private network (VPN) and encryption technology, and expects that it will make up 20% of the firm’s total revenue, slated to be $15m next year after only 36 months of operation.
TrustWorks claims that its encryption software, OpenCrypto API, circumvents national encryption restrictions by using open application program interfaces which allow users in different countries to slot in whichever encryption algorithms they prefer, and which may be legally available to them.
Alexander Galitsky, president and CEO of TrustWorks, worked for a Russian firm called Elvis+ developing the technology for Sun Microsystems as part of the Simple Key Exchange Protocol (SKEP). When Sun was prevented by US government restrictions of strong encryption export, Galitsky took the technology to Holland. The firm is privately funded by investors including SBC sWarburg Dillon Reed and ICANN chair Esther Dyson.
TrustWorks will sell its VPN software together with the encryption and Nested VPN, a process in which packets sent across a secure network are covered by an encrypted wrapper to further secure the traffic of remote users accessing corporate data over the web.
Administrators use Global Security Manager (GSM) to watch the whole system and devise corporate security policy and setting access rights down to the application level. Prices start at $20,000 for GSM, $100 per client, $1500 for a server and $4000 for TrustedGate. The encryption technology is bundled with the VPN software.
The company’s target market is large firms with disparate operations and TrustWorks intends to set up indirect sales partnerships with four or five internet service providers and application service providers in the next few months. The medium-term goal is floatation on Nasdaq within two years.
