From: "Spencer, Will" <wspencer@DMWGroup.com>
Securify Tries To Patch Up Holes In Nets
Security breaches on the Web are a big and embarrassing problem for
companies.
Company information has been stolen and damaged - by accident and
intentionally - by Web denizens who have found holes in fire walls and
other security software.
A privately held Silicon Valley start-up - led by a former top
executive with one of the Internet's pioneers - believes it has a
solution.
Veriguard Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., is developing a security
service to protect company information on the Internet and on internal
networks.
The company, which is changing its name to Securify, was founded in
February by Taher Elgamal, former chief scientist for Netscape
Communications Corp.
Elgamal, who left Netscape in June, has raised $5.5 million from
venture capital firms Mohr Davidow Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners, and
from a few private investors.
Mohr Davidow funded Securify because nobody has been able to stop
security breaches on the Web, says George Zachary, a general partner with
the Menlo Park, Calif., firm.
"What we have seen so far is the Band-Aid approach (to security),"
Zachary said. "This is an exciting opportunity for us because security is
highly complex and there is a strong need in the market for a service by a
third-party (company)."
Securify offers an array of network security services, including
evaluation, detection, monitoring, system installation and software
development.
What makes Securify unusual, though, is that it focuses on confronting
and stopping security breaches from inside a corporate customer.
"Eighty percent of the break-ins occur internally," Zachary said. "You
can't fix that with software, and you just can't put a fire wall up."
Securify is setting up shop at a time when the industry appears poised
to address the security problem. But Securify faces some big competition.
Rivals include Cambridge Technology Partners, Lucent Technologies Inc.,
IBM Corp., AT&T Corp. and Ernst & Young LLP .
All are trying to tap into a market that will almost triple in four
years, analysts say.
Revenue from Internet security services will rise to $11.6 billion in
'02 from $4.6 billion this year, says International Data Corp., a
Framingham, Mass.- based market researcher.
"We are looking at an average growth rate of 26% a year," said Richard
Brewer, an analyst at IDC.
He says Internet security services include consulting, systems
integration, monitoring, ongoing support services and some custom software
coding.
Brewer says the demand for Internet security services will grow as the
public becomes more aware of breaches, such as this month's break-in at
The New York Times' Web site.
Hackers took over the Times' Web site and displayed offensive pictures.
The breach took place on a Sunday, when the site gets about 150,000
visitors.
Hackers also have broken into government computer networks. A few weeks
ago, the Department of Defense ordered its staff to begin removing
sensitive material from some military Web sites.
Companies and the government need to be more cautious, Brewer says.
"(Hackers are) not just in garages," he said. "There is a class of
mercenaries and thieves who are in the business to sabotage and steal
data."
-o-
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Received on Wed Oct 28 08:23:20 1998