Bringing organizations closer to total data security: Mark Hickman, COO, WinMagic

In light with the growing need for cyber security and endpoint protection in the Indian market, companies like WinMagic are working closely with various organisations to ensure that they move a step closer to the dream of having total data security. In an exclusive interview with Ankush Kumar the COO of WinMagic, Mark Hickman talks about the Indian government’s consistent efforts to combat the growing threat posed by the advanced cyber-attacks and the opportunities for security companies in such scenario.

With companies like Microsoft establishing their cyber security center in India, what will be the market dynamics in the times to come ?

Microsoft’s opening of the Cyber Security Engagement Center (CSEC) points to the growth of Cloud-based computing in India and the Indian government’s growing concern for cyber security in this new landscape. In fact, the Indian government is gearing up to bring new encryption and privacy policies to combat the growing threat posed by cyber-attacks. The need for collaboration amongst the various players in the industry will be needed to make this happen. WinMagic is a long-standing partner with governments around the globe and understands the need and requirements to meet these new demands.

Where do you see your company placed in this competitive market ?

WinMagic has collaborated with numerous technology partners in India to deliver endpoint encryption across various industries – recently garnering the business of large Indian brands into our portfolio. WinMagic has been developing innovative endpoint security solutions for two decades. Starting out with software encryption for data-at-rest, our flagship product – SecureDoc – has since evolved into a sophisticated, intelligent key management platform for encryption across physical, virtual and cloud environments. In light of the growing need for cyber security and endpoint protection in the Indian market, we can play a pivotal role in bringing businesses and organizations closer to total data security.

Please share your market strategy, what are the segment/business verticals that you find most lucrative in India and why?

Going forward, we plan to expand our presence into pharma, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and government departments. The Indian pharma industry is growing at an incredible 15.92 percent per annum, expected to reach a market value of $55 billion by 2020, making India the sixth largest market globally. Needless to say, this would put the pharma industry at greater and continued risk of health data breaches. We intend to partner with players in the industry to ensure that their highly sensitive data is secure and protected from breaches. The Government’s recent decision to establish the Computer Emergency Response Team for the Financial Sector (CERT-Fin) is a great move in the right direction to curb hacking and securing online data. However, there is much more that needs to be done in order to secure networks and other critical areas such as payment gateways. WinMagic provides security solutions to the financial sector across the globe and we see many opportunities in India going forward.

What is the USP of your product line? In this ever increasing threat scenario with reputed security solution providers already existing why will an organisation deploy your solution?

WinMagic’s SecureDoc is uniquely positioned to deliver data security in virtually any IT environment. With intelligent key management powered by PBConnex technology, our product is incredibly adaptable to existing and future IT infrastructure. Super vendors like McAfee, Symantec and Sophos disperse their investment and efforts across hundreds of offerings—AV, IPS, firewalls, etc. — where encryption is just another product.

WinMagic is focused on bringing the best encryption solutions to the market – as a result, we win most deals in this space. We also have a strong network partners, including large OEM players like Lenovo and HP—that’s 40 percent of the global PC market. With Amtrak as our India distributor, we have had big strategic wins in India.

To address the challenge of skill sets at the partner level, we deploy a sizable number of technical team members in the field. We offer add-on services to end customers through partners to ensure a good experience and successful deployments.

How do you evaluate the growth of cyber security market in India, what are your recommendations?

The cloud services market is growing exponentially in India and cloud spending is expected to rise as a result. In spite of security challenges, major cloud service providers like Amazon and Microsoft see opportunities for expansion, primarily due to the sheer number of consumers with internet access, as well as recent government investments in improved IT infrastructure.

Given the significant investment of major cloud providers and the Government of India’s (GOI) increasing concern for cyber security, future developments in data privacy and security regulations should be expected. Businesses and organizations should therefore be proactive about addressing vulnerabilities and preventing threats to the security of their data, wherever it resides.

What are your expectations from the Government with respect to policy and regulations?

The government should continue investments in cyber security efforts and work with industry leaders to ensure that developments in technology and data accessibility are met with appropriate regulations.

How do you see the government as a client for security companies?

Encryption of data-at-rest is the foundation to information security architecture that must be in place to safeguard Personal Identifiable Information (PII) of the citizens served by government organizations. Government bodies around the globe are continuously under intense scrutiny over the handling of this sensitive data, and must maintain rigour in their approach to technology, methods and standards when dealing with data security. India is no exception to this and we are very keen to work closely with the Indian Government and its departments to provide our expertise in encryption and data security.