L to R: Mark Buczynski, vice president of marketing; Patrick McGregor, president, CEO & founder; Matthew White, vice president of engineering & founder

Stopping Data Theft:
BitArmor Blazes a New Trail
When 1.2 million Bank of America customers had their personal information potentially exposed from unprotected backup tapes last month, consumers and lawmakers saw disaster.

Patrick McGregor, on the other hand, saw further proof of the rapidly rising demand for unique cutting-edge data-security solutions.

"The impact from breaches like those involving Bank of America, TimeWarner and others would have been mitigated if our technology were employed," says McGregor, Ph.D., president and CEO of Pittsburgh-based BitArmor Systems.

Numerous companies offer limited point solutions to address different vulnerable areas of IT security. BitArmor, however, has taken a unique, holistic approach to information security by protecting and encrypting sensitive data "in flight" and stored "at rest."

"BitArmor's innovative fabric of protection extends to any enterprise data — on web servers, laptops, wireless handheld devices, storage servers, tape drives and even over public Wi-Fi networks and the Internet," McGregor says.

"A Tremendous Boost"
BitArmor Systems, thanks in part to assistance and a $200,000 investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners, plans to roll out the first truly integrated enterprise data security platform later this year. Features include integrated access control, authentication, end-to-end data path security and wire-speed encryption of data.

BitArmor has been working with BFTP since February. "Their assistance in developing strategies for sales, financing and positioning has been a tremendous boost," says McGregor. "Currently, we are gearing up for a fundraising and expansion effort. BFTP's financial support and organizational backing is a strong endorsement of our technology, our team and our approach. Their validation encourages potential investors to take a serious look at BitArmor."

With the prevalence of mobile computing, more and more sensitive data is leaving the safety of the data center or the workplace and being transmitted to and stored on any number of wired and wireless devices — devices that may easily be stolen or lost. BitArmor technology protects the sensitive information on any of these devices, regardless of where the data is stored.

Regulating Data Security
"The only way to truly lock down sensitive information is to encrypt and control access to data throughout the entire enterprise," McGregor says. "Data must be protected in every step of its life cycle, while in flight and at rest."

BFTP has a strategic interest in helping new Pennsylvania companies like BitArmor develop and market innovative cyber-security solutions. Recognizing the positive economic impact this sector can have on the Commonwealth, BFTP is supporting several cyber-security companies like BitArmor, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University.

Information breaches like those reported at Bank of America, TimeWarner, MCI, Choice Point and others are leading to increased regulation — such as California Senate Bill 1386, which mandates that organizations publicly disclose all security incidents involving private information about California residents. Under this bill, only those companies whose sensitive data was encrypted when breached are exempt from the public disclosure rule, preserving market value of their stock and limiting damage to their reputation. Similar legislation is being discussed at the federal level.

This is good news for BitArmor, whose system will soon be released for beta testing. "Our initial goal is to help those companies that are mandated to comply with federal and industry legislation to protect sensitive customer or patient data," says Mark Buczynski, vice president of marketing. "These are organizations in the financial services and health care markets, as well as government agencies, all major system integrators and service providers." The company expects to begin delivering its product by the end of 2005.

Completely Transparent Security
To the end user, the protection is completely transparent, says Buczynski. "Our patent-pending technology does not interfere with normal operations, requires no changes to applications or storage devices and is centrally administered — all making the system easy to use, manage and deploy. Our technology prevents unauthorized data access and maintains data integrity and privacy of sensitive computerized data, thwarting security breaches that potentially lead to identity theft."

BitArmor technology defends against security breaches similar to those recently in the headlines. Nevertheless, Buczynski insists they are not selling a silver bullet.

"We focus on data security — securing and encrypting the 1's and 0's, the sensitive data, anywhere within the organization, which we believe is most important aspect of any IT security plan. There are other problems for which you are always going to need protection, such as spyware, malware and viruses."

An Ever-Increasing Threat:
A Snapshot of Recent Security Breaches
As we become an increasingly wired society, data theft and security breaches are becoming more frequent and disruptive. Reports indicate more than 50 million data records have been compromised through the first six months of 2005. A snap shot of May and June shows the vulnerable state of company and personal data:

 From the July/August 2005 issue