Epok Embarks on Data Security Drive

Data center security startup Epok today put its own spin on identity management by launching its flagship Trusted Data Exchange (TDX) product.

Epok is focused on technology that allows enterprises, service providers, and government agencies to share information with trusted third parties. The company's TDX software controls data exchange between different networks.

This works by creating network addresses for specific pieces of data and allowing users to assign policies to that data. The software can then be used to control and manage transactions carried out via Web services. TDX could, for example, be used by a telecom provider to manage the relationship between its subscribers and third-party ringtone or SMS vendors, according to Epok.

Epok touches on a hot topic: software and hardware enabling companies to control who accesses what. Startup Caymas Systems emerged from stealth today with a range of access gateways, and last week, Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) (NYSE: CA) stumped up $430 million to acquire identity management specialist Netegrity (see Startup Looks to Solve Identity Crisis and CA Nets Netegrity for $430M).

So, who are the people behind TDX and Epok? The company is the brainchild of CEO Ayman Hariri, the son of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and his fellow Georgetown University grad Scott Birnbaum. The two college buddies founded Epok back in 2001 and two years later acquired the core technology behind TDX when the company bought fellow startup OneName Technology [ed. note: one better than NoName, presumably].Epok, which is privately funded by Ayman Hariri, is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and has some 50 employees. Hariri has brought in a number of security experts to join his senior management team, including Nigel Simmons, a former nuclear physicist from the U.K., and Bill Rubacky, a former AOL executive.

Epok's security message is already getting through to some, with Dubai's Naturalization and Residency Department already signed up for the TDX product. The Department will use TDX to exchange data between government agencies and also extend the capabilities of E-Gate, the automated entry and exit system at Dubai International Airport.

Epok is hoping for similar success with federal government and the telecom sector, according to Hariri. "We have had talks with a number of carriers in the U.S. and in Europe, and we're very far along with that," he says, somewhat cagily. However, he declines to say which companies Epok has been dealing with.

James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum