Startup Debuts With Leak Prevention Appliance

Provilla's flagship LeakProof product is an appliance-based data leak prevention technology that can detect when confidential information is being sent out of the company via desktop PCs as well as notebooks and mobile devices.

The LeakProof appliance works in conjunction with an agent that's installed on the endpoint to identify sensitive data within the corporate network and block it from being sent out through common leak pathways like email, instant messaging, and USB devices, said Glen Kosaka, vice president of marketing at Provilla, Mountain View, Calif.

Provilla's agent is small and lightweight, making it ideal for protecting against data leaks from notebook PCs and mobile devices, Kosaka said. "Data today needs to move around, you can't just lock down a database and expect to be protected," he said.

Greg Stelzenmuller, president and managing partner at Los Angeles-based security integrator Responsive Technologies, decided to partner with Provilla based on the fact that appliance-based products are more suitable for the channel because they're easy to deploy.

Sofwtare based leak prevention solutions tend to require a fair amount of consulting to implement, and network based solutions sometimes don't account for leakage from workers' notebook PCs, which is why Provilla's agent based approach is appealing, he said.

"Unless you have an agent on the end user's PC, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to stop leaks from happening," Stelzenmuller said.

LeakProof comes with a management interface through which administrators can set up policies and monitor compliance. "It can also scan local drives to see if you come up with any positives for unencrypted customer credit card data, which makes it a good way to avoid embarrassing data loss situation and compliance problems," said Kosaka.

To generate interest in LeakProof, Provilla also launched a free software download called LeakSense, which gives companies a view into how data is moving within their networks, Kosaka said.

Provilla also plans to offer a partner portal through which VARs can offer Leaksense through a co-branded page, and get leads for each customer that downloads the product, said Kosaka.