SecureAge Helps Companies Protect Their Data and Digital Assets by Prioritizing Usability, Security, and App Integrity

TL; DR: For 18 years, SecureAge has equipped companies with cybersecurity tools to protect their data from threats. The company dedicates its efforts to making data security practical and user-centric, so business owners can focus on what they do best. SecureAge tools work silently around the clock to keep company data secured without interrupting the workflow. Whether your data is at rest or live, SecureAge ensures it stays encrypted and locked down.

As more companies adopt the cloud, data breaches are becoming more common. Tech giants, including Amazon (AWS) and Capital One, have been targets of multiple cyberattacks, which have infiltrated customer data and other digital assets.

According to Help Net Security, 83% of businesses have yet to encrypt half of their cloud-based data, while 40% have experienced a data breach in the past 12 months. Unfortunately, leaving encryption keys to cloud providers isn’t cutting it anymore. Cloud providers’ specialization isn’t in data security, so companies must turn to cybersecurity experts to protect their data.

Cloud providers promise encryption, but most don’t encrypt all data forms. Cybersecurity provider SecureAge approaches data protection in a more detailed and intuitive manner.

“The way we do our file-level encryption is that even when you’re working with a live file, that file is still encrypted as a temp file, and all the processing of it is happening with an encrypted session,” said Jerry Ray, COO of SecureAge.

SecureAge launched in 2003 under the leadership of its CEO and founder Dr. Teow Hin Ngair. The company’s stated mission is to ensure data security, usability, and application integrity that work in tandem. The SecureAge development team has an extensive background in government security that it has adopted as part of its operations.

Although SecureAge has experience working with the highest security threats, Jerry said he believes no differentiation in threat sensitivity exists. SecureAge treats all potential attacks with the same urgency and care.

“Whether it’s my laptop or a military machine holding nuclear launch codes, the value of that information is the same to the people who own it. The security tool should be the same. So we want to start getting that proven efficacy out into the world,” said Jerry.

Before Dr. Teow Hin Ngair created SecureAge, he and three other SecureAge developers held positions as researchers at a government research lab in Singapore. Dr. Ngair worked as the Senior Researcher and built the world’s first Unicode-based system to support multilingual computing, which several government agencies purchased.

He took his impressive skill set and government experience to work with security solutions. The SecureAge team already had a knack for innovation and proprietary ideas, so when it came time to create its security tools, the team knew what to invent to solve the issues in the cybersecurity industry.

As Dr. Ngair explored security solutions, he realized that these tools only secured data at rest and left other live data forms vulnerable. So SecureAge created an encryption tool capable of protecting data at rest, in transit, and in use. The solution can also change algorithms to fit the client’s specific needs, a capability many security companies lack.

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These security tools caught the attention of several government agencies, and SecureAge is a partner to multiple public entities, including government entities in Hong Kong and Japan.

“​​Anything that’s classified in Singapore uses our software to ensure its integrity. Whether that’s for consulates, traveling diplomats, whatever third country they’re in, all of this security is coming from our encryption tools,” said Jerry.

The company is entirely self-funded and receives no investment from the government. Over the past two years, SecureAge has expanded its client base to include more small and medium-sized enterprises. Jerry said the team wants to provide businesses with fewer IT resources with a simple encryption solution they can rely on around the clock.

SecureAge collaborates with multiple government entities across the world, and it currently has partnerships in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia. In the future, the company looks to grow its presence in the Europe and the US.

Juggling different regions requires handling various regulatory compliance and certifications. Jerry said most of the SecureAge inbound leads come from companies need to meets the data security regulatory compliance. With compliances such as CCPA and GDPR, clients turned to SecureAge to ensure the safety of company data in every place and time.

“So not only is regulatory compliance a big deal, but the certification requirement is bigger, and certification is something that SecureAge and other security companies need to be able to offer products to governments and large corporations,” said Jerry.

SecureAge is currently in the process of receiving a Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) certification which required to be able to service the government entities in the US. This certification allows them to process different state-based regulatory compliances.

Jerry said compliance also extends beyond regulations and certification. Because apps and their processing exist in the cloud, protecting and encrypting data has become more challenging. Users essentially give control of their live data to these app providers working on HTTPS sessions because HTTPS owns the keys on both sides.

“You are not in compliance when you allow that data to sit on a third-party server and for them to encrypt it for you. The third-party is only encrypting the backups of it,” said Jerry.

Many users don’t realize the data risk of using SaaS cloud-based applications. Jerry said relying on endpoint apps helps fight these threats and puts the encryption keys back in users’ hands.

The SecureAge vision is to provide a data protection tool designed for employees who are not cybersecurity experts. The company takes away the hassle of training teams on managing sensitive data and gives them the room to work on pressing tasks without worrying about risky behavior.

“It was built for users. It can be deployed to 10,000 people in one morning, and they don’t have to change a thing. And it doesn’t require any education or training to use the tool,” said Jerry.

Jerry also said many customers have expressed through testimonials how the SecureAge tool has obviated the need for several other security solutions. The encryption solution helps keep their data protected all the time, no matter where it goes.

Because the encryption layer is invisible, it doesn’t interfere with the user experience.

“Users can’t make a mistake. Any mistake they think they made reverts to an encrypted file. And that is a failsafe that you can’t get through any other tool,” said Jerry.

SecureAge allows users to manage and hold the keys to their data. Customers decide whether they want to decrypt and deliver information to third parties and not vice versa. Jerry said many SecureAge customers have realized the reliability of its tool and have become lifelong users. These customers no longer need to rely on legacy security systems and have converted to a new mindset.

As for what the future holds, Jerry said SecureAge plans to expand its operations and reach new countries in 2022. And the team hopes to secure its first round of funding from smart money investors by the end of 2022 Q1. This investment will help SecureAge with its international expansion and find a network of other technology partners, distributors, and sellers.

“So we want to enter North America, Europe, and Australia in a meaningful way. We’ve done it now just through inbound leads, but we want to go out there and get it done,” said Jerry.