MSP Cloud

Cloud Data Security Firm Porticor Launches Encryption Service

By Erin Harrison
Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives

Data security concerns remain top of mind for CIOs considering shifting to the cloud, which has introduced a new set of complex security issues for IT teams to manage. Startup cloud data security company Porticor has launched its data encryption service offering to protect data in public, private and hybrid cloud environments.

The Israel-based company’s data encryption service is managed in the cloud, with private data stored across a variety of storage types, including virtual disks, databases, distributed storage and file systems. Company officials said Porticor’s cloud-based security service – a patent-pending split-key encryption technology – ensure the privacy of data stored in the cloud.

Prior to launching the company two years ago, the firm’s founders said they realized that the critical issue of keys stored in the cloud was being unaddressed.

“Previous cloud data security solutions attempt to tackle only a few of the data security issues organizations face when moving to the cloud, while also introducing significant costs and overhead,” said Gilad Parann-Nissany, Porticor founder and CEO. “Porticor addresses data security in a unique way, delivering a level of trust for the security of customers’ cloud data yet unseen in the industry.”

Porticor launched in 2010, and plans to expand its U.S. presence with new offices this year. The company is venture backed, with Glilot Capital leading its recent Series A round of funding. Porticor’s initial partners included Amazon AWS and Red Hat (News - Alert), Inc.

The company solves a significant cloud security issue, according to Gordon England, general partner at Glilot Capital who is also former U.S. deputy Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy. 

“Many organizations have already realized the advantages of cloud infrastructure, but security hazards and regulation prevent many more from truly leveraging cloud benefits,” England said. “Porticor solves a major cloud security problem and has the right team and technology to best address customers’ needs.  Its combination of uncompromising security with ease of implementation and full cloud operations are very important for cloud users.  The highly innovative approach being fielded by Porticor will be critically important for a wide range of organizations.”

Porticor offers data privacy in a public environment for data protection and compliance to regulations such as SOX, HIPAA, PCI DDS and GLBA, while also solving the issues raised by EU Data Protection and the U.S. Patriot (News - Alert) Act, company officials said. Porticor also helps IaaS and PaaS cloud users to create a secured encrypted environment while eliminating the need to trust the security vendor or cloud provider with their encryption keys.

The company’s Virtual Private Data (VPD) platform is available in several editions. Pricing begins at $27.50 per month per Porticor virtual appliance.