Gordon Rapkin President and CEO Protegrity

Protegrity Corporation, the leader in data security management, has announced the availability of a new suite of services designed to help companies mitigate the risks and costs related to data security breaches and non-compliance with security regulations and policies.

The services respond to a strong market need for education and guidance in assessing current data security and developing practical enterprise-wide strategies for data protection.

A recent Protegrity survey found that 53.9% of respondents believed their companies were unsure of current data security requirements and a third said their companies would likely fail an actual audit.

The new services will be offered by Protegrity?s Data Security Strategies division, led by David Taylor, a recognized industry authority on data security and e-commerce.

The services include an assessment of application and database security compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements; benchmarking current technologies, business processes and employee behaviors related to sensitive customer and business-critical data; and a security effectiveness analysis identifying specific technologies and business practices that deliver the most efficient and cost-effective data protection and regulatory compliance.

?With the passage of security breach disclosure laws in more than 20 states and the increased enforcement of PCI mandates, any business that handles credit data and other sensitive information must carefully examine how applications, databases and business processes protect this information,? said Taylor, who has advised hundreds of companies on strategies for secure electronic commerce.

?Our enterprise data protection services will help companies meet PCI requirements and ensure they are spared the costs and reputation damage related to disclosure laws.? Prior to joining Protegrity, Taylor worked for Gartner, the Stamford-based IT-related research company, and founded its e-commerce research practice.

He also was the chief research officer and a co-founder of TheInfoPro, a research firm specializing in information security and storage.

?The costs of security breaches are huge,? said Gordon Rapkin, president and CEO of Protegrity. ?Companies are paying millions of dollars for problem remediation, notification of customers, and legal fees and fines. Costs related to loss of customers and long-term damage to brand and reputation add up to millions more. Companies just can?t afford not to have an enterprise-wide plan.?

In addition to its data security services, Protegrity?s product portfolio includes Secure.Data? , which offers unparalleled database encryption technology and DefianceTMS, the premier application-level security product added with Protegrity?s recent acquisition of Kavado.

Protegrity has helped companies of all sizes mitigate corporate risk and assure compliance with regulatory requirements, such as those outlined in the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (which encompasses Visa CISP and MasterCard SDP programs), California SB 1386, Sarbanes-Oxley, and HIPAA.

Protegrity Corporation is the leading innovator of enterprise-wide data security management solutions. The company provides end-to-end protection for applications and sensitive data that enables companies to deploy comprehensive security policies with centralized management and auditing.

Protegrity is committed to protecting sensitive data wherever it resides in today?s highly distributed and heterogeneous computing environments.

Protegrity empowers management to take responsibility for sensitive data by mitigating legal and financial risks associated with security breaches and assuring compliance with regulatory requirements for data security.

For more than eight years, Protegrity?s award-winning technology has enabled customers address and resolve critical security challenges. Protegrity invented the core technology used for data-level encryption and owns key patents for database security and protection.

For more information visit www.protegrity.com