Security Startup FinalCode Emerges From Stealth

Led by former ForeScout CEO Gord Boyce, FinalCode has emerged from stealth mode to take on Dropbox and Box with its enterprise-grade, file-sharing security offering.

Boyce quietly left Campbell, Calif.-based ForeScout last July after serving as its CEO for more than five years. He was replaced by former Intel Security President Michael DeCesare as the company looks to go public. Boyce started at FinalCode as CEO in February and has since been building out a management team in preparation of the company's emergence from stealth mode in advance of the RSA Conference next week.

FinalCode, founded in April 2014 and based in San Jose, Calif., looks to solve the problem of file security and data leakage that can lead to data breaches and the growth of shadow IT in an organization. File encryption is especially important in the wake of recent headline-grabbing breaches, such as at Sony, Anthem Insurance and more, that could have been prevented or lessened by file-encryption technology, Boyce said.

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The program works by defining the file security settings of each file and recipient, then encrypts the file and "follows it until its death" using the FinalCode client. Users must download the free client to open the file, after which they will have defined access, sharing and time limits on viewing the file. The encryption works both inside and outside of popular file-sharing tools such as Dropbox and Box, a fact that Boyce said differentiates it from the container file encryption options offered by those vendors.

"We think we're the cutting edge," Boyce said. "I think that we'll both compete and collaborate with Box and Dropbox."

The technology itself was first patented in 2010 by Japan-based Digital Arts and was "very well received" in that market, tripling its sales in the first year. FinalCode was formed to take the product into the U.S. market and will operate independently with investments from Digital Arts.

Boyce said he is a "big believer in the channel" and FinalCode will "definitely" be building out a full-tiered channel program in the near future, but will have an intermediary program running in the meantime.

He said he sees the offering as an add-on security feature with a low barrier to entry for partners already offering file collaboration or sharing options to their clients.

"If you're doing a million-dollar file collaboration or file SharePoint deal, adding an additional 20 percent on security as a line item would be easy to do and very sticky," Boyce said.

The product is now generally available as a Software-as-a-Service, hybrid or virtual appliance offering, the company said, starting at an annual subscription pricing of $25,000 for 100 users. The FinalCode client for file recipients is free.

PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2015