A $18 Billion Problem Solved with the Launch of “Full Protection FileAssurity & Anonymizer Double Deal”

London, 05 November 2002: ArticSoft, a premier Internet security provider based in the UK, has joined hands with Anonymizer, a top US company in web privacy and personal protection. The duo today launched the “Full Protection FileAssurity & Anonymizer Double Deal” – a foolproof Internet privacy & security package.

The offer comes at a time when online privacy concerns are peaking. A series of studies highlight consumer unease with web tracking schemes where data is combined with an individual’s identity. A February 2002 Harris Poll found that a majority of consumers do not trust businesses to handle their personal information properly. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 79% of sampled individuals voiced reluctance to make an online purchase due to concerns over credit card security, 77% due to concerns over privacy and 48% due to distrust of web retailers. Analysts estimate that Internet retail sales lost due to privacy concerns may be a staggering $18 billion!

“The trend is clear”, says Steve Mathews, CEO, ArticSoft and one of the authors of ISO/IEC 17799, the only international standard for information security management. “Individuals want accountability and security. They do not trust companies to administer personal data and fear both private-sector and government abuses of privacy. Individuals are resorting to privacy self-defense. FileAssurity & Anonymizer are ideal for their purpose.”

Anonymizer lets individuals surf the Internet in complete privacy, keeping personal information away from spammers. It keeps the visitor invisible from the website and online advertisers and prevents harmful web bugs, malicious code/scripts, and hackers from attacking the computer.

FileAssurity lets individuals store and share files, folders and emails with complete confidence, without risk of interception or tampering. A unique digital signature gives legal validity to content secured by FileAssurity. Additionally, it protects deleted files even from forensic software.

A formidable threat to online privacy is the fact that many Internet users cannot identify the most basic tracking tool on the Internet: the cookie. In an August 2000 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 56% of Internet users could not identify a cookie. It remains unknown whether individuals can identify more sophisticated tracking tools, such as “web bugs” or “spyware.”

The “Full Protection FileAssurity & Anonymizer Double Deal” has been designed with the needs of these customers in mind. Steve Mathews promises, “FileAssurity is the easiest to use PKI enabled data protection product on the market today. It delivers the highest levels of privacy and data security without any technical complexity. Installation is one click. Protecting files is one click and unprotecting files is automatic.”

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