Trend Micro Acquires Data-Leak Prevention Firm Provilla

Security solution provider Trend Micro today announced the acquisition of Provilla, a Mountain View, Calif.-based data leak prevention company. In a time where security breaches can do significant damage to SMBs and enterprise-level firms alike, Trend Micro says the acquisition enables the company to offer solution providers a broader array of scalable security solutions.

"The thieves are getting smarter," says Glen Kosaka, vice president of marketing for Provilla. "It's a threat that is only going to get greater." The challenges posed by security issues require an arsenal of solutions that are easily integrated, deployed, and modified, says John Racioppi, Trend Micro's AVP of alliances and emerging technologies. "There is no one magic bullet one can apply. It's going to take a multi-layered approach," he says. "We think a technology like Provilla provides a lot of flexibility."

Provilla's flagship end-point security solution, LeakProof, acts like a security guard for sensitive documents. The software tracks file removal or copying activity, as well as application level activity and network activity. Then it tracks outbound content leaving the system if keywords or information (social security numbers, credit card numbers) configured by the system administrator is flagged. If a match is detected, an alert, be it a user log entry or a client alert box, can be issued in response. "We see their solution as scalable, lightweight, and easy to integrate," says Trend Micro CEO Eva Chen.

Security issues are a global challenge for business. One appealing feature of Provilla's technology, Racioppi says, is that it supports double-byte and single-byte character languages, important to Trend Micro's global strategy.

And while the language of business varies, the cultural differences are becoming more and more integrated."There are certain common themes regardless of being in Shanghai or Seattle," he says. "It's all about economic motivation. Those motivations tend to be very localized."

Still, client concerns vary from country to country depending on respective regulatory practices. "In China there is much concern about intellectual property protection," Racioppi says. "In Europe there are employee privacy concerns—what companies are allowed to do with technology that affects their employees."

Another crucial aspect when understanding global security challenges is the impact of mobile devices. While Provilla's technology is not currently applicable to mobile devices, Provilla founder and CTO Shu Huang says they want to have a mobile solution soon. "I'd say two out of every five customers have concerns about mobile devices," he says. "Hopefully with the acquisition there will be a lot more resources to develop this product line."

Next: Security For Mobile devices

Racioppi says providing security solutions in the mobile realm is a "high priority" and says he feels Provilla's technology is well suited to make the transition. "Fundamentally they've architected their solution in a way that makes it easily adaptable to mobile devices," he says. "Most of the other solutions we looked at were built for a server environment. You have start with an architecture that assumes light and portable."

Racioppi says Trend Micro will support Provilla's ongoing partner relationships, including those with Big Fix and Hitachi. "We want to be able to propagate this technology through multiple channels," he says. The move to brand Provilla's products under the Trend Micro name will begin in early 2008, and will continue to package and ship Provilla's LeakProof products as stand-alone products so companies without Trend Micro infrastructure can provide solutions with them. "These products lend themselves quite nicely to our VARs in this area," he says. "We're going to make a heavy channel push on this."

Michelle Dolet, CEO of Conquest, Inc., a Framingham, Mass.-based solution provider specializing in information security, says she thinks Provilla's technology will be a welcome addition to Trend Micro's arsenal. "One of the solutions we've been looking for has been a data leak solutions," she says. "Trend Micro has done a very good job with their enterprise security solutions. Adding [Provilla] to their portfolio is going to make them a stronger competitor." Dolet says her clients are beginning to express more concern about data leakage. "In our lab, they've been trying to find different technologies to prevent data leakage," she says. "So I'm sure they'll be happy to hear about this."

The acquisition gives Trend Micro the ability to expand their content security solutions across new platforms and devote new resources to solving upcoming challenges, says Racioppi. "We can take this technology and enhance it in a lot of different directions," he says. Provilla's flexibility, ease of integration and potential for scalability made it the best fit for Trend Micro, he says. "The only thing that is constant within this industry is change," he says. "Flexibility is hugely important. We think we've got that in what we're doing with Provilla today."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Kosaka notes all 22 Provilla employees will keep their jobs and the company's headquarters will remain in Mountain View "for the foreseeable future." At this point, Kosaka says he is concerned with increasing the staff, not reducing it. "Our biggest challenge now is going to be ramping up staffing," he says. "The people who build it and support it are of equal if not greater value to the product itself."