Yorkshire firm signs key US partnership agreement

SKIPTON-based high-performance network security firm Syphan Technologies has signed a strategic partnership with leading US firm GovAssure.

The partnership will see Syphan work with the Californian-based division of Rock Island Networks – a company with a national customer base focused on designing, building and supporting data and voice networks for US Federal and State Government agencies.

It will incorporate Syphan’s ground-breaking technology within its portfolio of network infrastructure products.

The announcement follows Syphan’s successful North American launch in April at the security industry’s annual showcase event in San Francisco where it was named as one of the top six out of over 400 global security companies at the show.

Pravin Mirchandani, Syphan’s chief executive, said: “The US government and major enterprise sectors are much further advanced in terms of high speed networks than most other parts of the world.

“Getting a foothold in the US is a critical part of our business plan ahead of our global roll-out and the partnership with GovAssure gives us the right platform to gain rapid penetration into the key sectors that have an immediate need for our technology.”

In addition to the GovAssure partnership, Syphan is conducting trials with several leading US and European IT service providers that will lead to the company’s technology becoming the standard platform for a new generation of security services delivered over the Internet starting in early 2010.

Mr Mirchandani added: “Our technology is the first to be able to offer multiple security services for multiple customers at multi-gigabyte network speeds, which makes it an attractive proposition for managed service companies looking to grow their cloud computing business.

Syphan, which was established in early 2006, now employs a specialist team of hardware and software engineers at its base in Broughton Hall Business Park, near Skipton in the UK.

The firm, which is funded by Yorkshire Fund Managers and private investors, designs technology to protect high-performance networks used by government departments and major enterprises, from the full range of cyber attacks and Internet malware capable of infecting corporate IT systems and steal sensitive data such as credit card details stored in the network.

Syphan’s patent-pending technology is able to identify and block the latest attacks at speeds that are two or three times faster than current systems without impacting the performance of the network.

The announcement of the GovAssure partnership marks a critical stage in the company’s development plans, which include rapid expansion into Europe, South East Asia and Japan during 2010.

It aims to double the number of employees across all areas of the business to around 50 over the next 12 months.