DISUK and Zycko sign exclusive agreement to protect data stored on tape with Paranoia

17th May 2005 – Northampton, UK – DISUK Limited and Zycko have signed an exclusive agreement for the distribution of DISUK’s range of data encryption technology in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. DISUK’s product, Paranoia2TM, will be resold through Zycko’s established sales network of integrators and resellers who specialise in data networking, electronic data storage and security.

DISUK’s Paranoia2 is a fast, robust, “on the fly’ encryption technology that sits between the data path and the tape storage device. By using the strong encryption protocol 3DES2, it is a primary security tool for safeguarding backup tapes.

“Paranoia2 is a very neat product that meets an emerging business security need to protect data held on backup tapes. It can be sold as an infrastructure or a standalone solution, perfect for mid-market, departmental and SME sales”, said Nigel Lambert, Channel Director for Zycko. “Having a two year deal gives us the confidence to invest, educate, and promote this market.”

Compliance, governance and integrity issues have developed to a point where businesses have started to address all areas of data security. Recent high profile losses of backup tapes containing sensitive data, including those owned by Bank of America and Time Warner, have highlighted the security risks surrounding access to data. This is pushing the search for a storage security solution higher up the IT agenda.

“Encrypting data is the quickest and best way to ensure fail-safe security”, says Paul Howard, Managing Director of DISUK. “Having invested in anti-virus, firewalls and front line security products, many companies’ weakest security point is now data storage. By neglecting to encrypt their data they are effectively leaving a back door wide open to one of the fastest growing crimes – identity theft.”

“Zycko focuses on understanding products; its team know the reality and needs of the Network and Storage Manager and it has the energy to develop a strong approach to an emerging market “, said Rob Gretton, Sales Director of DISUK. “We looked for a partner who had a close fit with our view of the world and could help DISUK develop new regions and increase exposure in our home market. It was significant that Zycko is well-known and experienced in these countries.”

Zycko offers resellers access to a well maintained value add channel programme, covering lead generation, pre-sales, sales and marketing support, web content, experienced technical backup and full telephone and field support.

Bank of America confirmed that a small number of computer data tapes were lost during shipment to a backup data centre. The missing tapes contained U.S. federal government charge card program customer and account information.

The missing tapes contained data from Time Warner, including personal information on current and former employees. An outside data storage firm lost the container of its computer back-up tapes during shipment to one of that firm’s storage facilities.

About Paranoia2 TM
Paranoia2 TM is external “on the fly’ tape encryption, sitting between the data path and tape storage device. It’s transparent to the operating system and built in pre-compression ensures encryption doesn’t result in performance degradation.

Available in an external encryption device, Paranoia uses strong encryption protocol 3DES2 to protect data. Encrypted tapes can only read by another Paranoia unit with the correct user and hardware key.

About DISUK Limited
DISUK Limited is a British company specialising in design and manufacture of data storage encryption systems for corporate, finance, government and military customers.

Founded in 2004, it is the only privately funded independent provider of data storage encryption. DISUK headquarters are in Northampton, UK and it supports global sales through a network of established data storage and security distributors.

For more information about DISUK and its encryption products, please visit www.disuk.com.

About Zycko
Zycko is a value-add distributor for best of breed open-system IT infrastructure products – from corporate networks to storage architectures to communications – through a channel of resellers, systems integrators and service providers.

Zycko is privately held and has been profitable since inception in 2000, when the company’s original charter was to market data networking accessories to resellers as a wholesale distributor. Zycko now employs over 150 staff, serving over 3000 resellers around the world from seven offices on four continents. The company now enjoys an annual turnover of more than $100m.

Zycko’s provision of cost-effective IT products and logistics management is supported by vital industry services such as technical support, custom configuration, education and marketing support. These combined factors make Zycko the channel partner of choice.

For more information, please visit www.zycko.com or call +44 (0)1285 868 500.

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