Called Preventon Personal Firewall, the desktop solution is designed for home users and small offices, providing protection from hackers and trojan horse programs over both broad- and narrowband Internet connections.
The one-year-old company is pitting itself against well-known products such as Symantec's worm detector and remover Norton Antivirus; ZoneLabs' personal firewall program Zone Alarm; and Network Associates' McAfee brand of personal firewall and anti-virus offerings.
However, Preventon claims it uses a patent-pending interface that enables users to take the guesswork out of configuring their personal firewall to maximize security--a feature that sets the company apart from its competitors.
"Installing the software is like stepping into your car and starting the engine," said John Wagner, Preventon business development director in a telephone interview.
"Users just have to select the applications--such as Web, email and chat--they need protection, and the security feature will be automatically activated," Wagner said. This is in sharp contrast with other firewall software which bombards users with over 10 pop-up installation screens and complex technical questions, he claimed.
Also, unlike rivals, Preventon's products are not available on retail shelves in the region. The firm targets home users and small offices through cable companies and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which will charge their subscribers a flat monthly fee for usage.
According to Wagner, the suggested subscription rate is HK$9 (US$1.15) per month per account holder. However, when the accounts are cancelled, Preventon's firewall program will be deactivated. Alternatively, the 7.5MB software can be downloaded from the company's Web site for HK$275 (US$35.26). The boxed software will also be sold through ISPs for HK$330 (US$42.31), said Wagner.
Preventon, which spent "many millions of pound" in software development, has not sign any customer yet. However, Wagner expects to announce client wins in a few weeks.
"ISPs in Taiwan are very excited about the product. Potential customers in Hong Kong and Thailand have shown interest, too," he claimed. In addition, Preventon is in negotiation with a number of ISPs in Europe since the product's debut there six weeks ago. Established last January, the firm's current headcount stands at 21 people at its sole office in London.
Thumbs up? Not yet
According to preliminary findings from International Data Corp (IDC), the security software sector in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) this year is expected to be worth US$264 million. This market--which includes encryption, firewall, virtual private network, intrusion detection, authorization,
authentication and administration technologies--is projected to surge at a compound annual growth rate of 26 percent to US$825 million in 2006.
As if giving Preventon's strategy the thumbs up, IDC software analyst Natasha David said: "We will increasingly see security products, such as anti-virus and firewalls, being provided as a service to the SOHO (small office home office) and personal desktop market through ISPs and carriers."
"This business model is one of the many that we will start seeing over the next 12 months in Asia-Pacific," David added.
However, David believes the company has a long way to go before catching up with established players such as Checkpoint Software Technologies, Symantec and Network Associates.
"Preventon's services-oriented model may help the company quickly penetrate the SOHO and home PC user market, but it is not going to make great inroads into the enterprise space. Competitors have a strong mindshare--even among the small- and medium-sized enterprises--and will not be toppled easily," she noted.
Moreover, firewall-based defense alone is not sufficient for securing companies' IT systems. To succeed, David believes every firewall vendor has to develop a suite of security management offerings, including virtual private network, bandwidth management, IP address management, and single sign-on authorization, authentication and administration technologies.
In fact, competition has stiffened. Check Point Software Technologies, which made its name by selling to big customers, has moved downstream into the small and remote offices space. In January, the Israeli firm launched its S-box appliance which allows small businesses to use its firewall and virtual private network technology for about US$300.
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