Arcot to set up European office in UK

Vendor woos resellers with high margins

Internet authentication vendor Arcot Systems is bringing its product line to Europe and is aiming to win resellers with promises of high margins.

The company has opened its European headquarters in Slough and said it will go through the channel with its Cryptographic Camouflage Technology. The software is loaded to a network server and offers individual user authentication via a downloadable Java application.

The new technology protects private keys by hiding them among thousands of similar but incorrect ones. This stops intruders using dictionary-based hacking tools to read passwords.

With thousands of similar alternatives it is virtually impossible to decode and after three attempts the system locks.

Paul Spencer, managing director at security reseller Axial, explained how user authentication technology needs a new approach. "User authentication is becoming more important as a result of the fears caused by internet connectivity. A simple password is not enough," he said.

In the UK, the company is looking to sign and train resellers in a similar scheme to one running in the US since last September.

Chief executive Chet Silvestri said: "We are initially looking to sign top-tier resellers and distributors in the UK and we want them to act as master distributors to support smaller resellers."