17
MAR
2009
Zeroing in on optical document security
SECURITY is all about the weakest link.
'When you want to address business security, you have to look at it holistically - that's where we come in,' Tang Weng Sing, GM of RadianTrust, tells BT.
Security solutions that are available in the market today are able to address the leakage or alteration of sensitive information, so long as they remain in their digital form. With the advent of digital photography and imaging devices, however, optical document security is increasingly being compromised - even more so due to the anonymous nature of paper.
And it is exactly this industry that RadianTrust has zeroed in on.
Since its inception in 2002, RadianTrust has focused on delivering IT security solutions as well as providing consultancy services for major projects under its parent company, CrimsonLogic.
'I felt it was more of a lost child, though,' recalls Mr Tang, who took the helm in 2006. 'I saw that those support services could not possibly be the growth engine for RadianTrust - the firm couldn't grow much along those lines.'
Together with his management, Mr Tang engineered RadianTrust in the direction of optical document security. Why this area, in particular?
'I think this industry is a gem. It addresses an important problem in business security, which has been around for a long time and will persist for a while yet,' he explains. 'There are also no big players in the space, and no open source alternative, which may erode whatever premiums our solutions can command.'
After setting up teams for R&D, business development, professional service and support, RadianTrust turned to devoting its resources to meeting the toughest security challenges in information security, application security and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
Its flagship solution, Phidelity, ensures that hardcopy documents cannot be reproduced or modified by unauthorised parties. It uses security features such as Print Control, Transactional Micro-print, Secure Code and its patented Optical Watermark.
To date, Phidelity has secured for RadianTrust a number of contracts with government agencies as well as overseas installations in India, Thailand and the Philippines.
More recently, two years' worth of R&D effort has produced a new Phidelity security feature, ID-Trace, which will protect internal documents not meant for circulation. The innovative, patent-pending technology is the first of its kind in the world, and is suitable for a wide range of applications. Mr Tang believes that it will be useful to large and medium-sized corporations.
The firm's impact in the industry has been far larger than its staff size of a mere 30. ZDNet Asia awarded RadianTrust 'R&D Champion of the Year' and 'Most Promising Asian Techno Visionaries' for 2008/2009, proving the firm's mettle in the industry and assuring its status as a world-class services provider
'We are looking for more partners to penetrate regionally, even globally,' says Mr Tang. 'Singapore is just a small market - a starting point. Our growth strategy will be to go through channels and partners, since in times of uncertainty, businesses should keep their organic footprint small and costs low.'
Just last month, RadianTrust had an exhibition at the Asian Financial Services Congress, raising awareness of its products in the financial services industry. It successfully garnered about 30 enquiries on its ID-Trace feature from both financial institutions as well as interested users and buyers of financial technology.
Mr Tang is looking forward to representing the firm at an upcoming worldwide IT security conference in San Francisco. RadianTrust will use the opportunity to leverage on the global platform and cut into the US market for security solutioning.
Despite the downturn, Mr Tang remains positive about RadianTrust's prospects. 'Business security is still a very real threat today, and companies will always be looking for the best solutions to safeguard their interests. We still see a very strong sales pipeline for Phidelity, which I foresee will be boosted by the launch of ID-Trace. Of course, we will still be prudent about costs, but in terms of top line, I am confident that RadianTrust can weather this downturn well.'
