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What problem do they solve? Trust is a huge issue in the cloud. Most trust discussions today focus on the end user, but data integrity is equally important. Just as organizations worry now over how they’re going to trust that insiders are actually who they say they are, they should also be worrying about how reliable and trustworthy their data is.
IP theft, data loss and non-compliance can all result from mishandled data. One method that has been proposed but never caught on was data signatures. Unfortunately, signing through PKI or similar technologies is out of reach for most organizations because of the expense and complexity of key management.
What they do: What VeriSign has done for website trust; GuardTime seeks to do for cloud-based trust.. GuardTime has created a keyless signature technology that secures critical data in the cloud and maintains extensive mathematical proof that data integrity is intact. GuardTime’s Keyless Signature is a system of software-generated, automated verification based on mathematics, which frees IT from the burdens of key management.
Why they’re an up-and-comer? Regulatory requirements centered on privacy and data integrity are issues for nearly every industry now, and verifiably clean data goes a long way towards ensuring compliance. This is a big horizontal market, and GuardTime is already cashing in with such customers as Brother Industries, which manufactures multi-function printers using GuardTime integration. GuardTime has partnered with Joyent to deliver the first cloud stack with keyless signature integration.
GuardTime also earned some cyber-security street cred through adventures in Estonia. CEO Mike Gault gained in-the-trenches, cutting-edge cyber-security knowledge while living in Estonia when Russia launched one of the first “cyber-warfare attacks.” Calling it that is probably a bit sensationalist; nonetheless, in a country where 97% of banking transactions are done online, there’s plenty to learn about next-generation security.
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