Deepnet signs Cirrus as second UK distributor

Cirrus will look to convert base of FireID resellers

Distributor Cirrus has moved to fill the void left by distressed vendor FireID's exit by inking a partnership with rival Deepnet Security.

Two-factor authentication specialist FireID was one of Cirrus' original three vendor signings but recently encountered funding difficulties after its main investor pulled out.

Mark Kacary, director and co-founder of Cirrus, said the plan is to convince the six resellers that had been selling FireID to switch to Deepnet. Cirrus had also been helping FireID seed the market at an end-user level and will now push Deepnet to these customers.

He argued that Cirrus would offer Deepnet something different from Softek, which Deepnet signed as its first UK distributor in 2006.

"We were looking at who offered alternative options to FireID, particularly in mobile phone authentication," he explained. "We approached Deepnet and they could see we could offer them something additional to help them expand."

Kacary stressed FireID is still active but argued Cirrus had no choice but to find an alternative. "With the lack of information, we needed to focus on our immediate requirements," he said.

Deepnet's DualShield platform supports a variety of authentication methods and user credentials, including hardware, software, mobile phone-based one-time passwords and keystroke biometrics.

"We were looking for a vendor that could provide a complete range of authentication form factors and in Deepnet Security we found a business which we felt had been under-represented," said Kacary.

Yurong Lin, managing director of Deepnet Security, said in a statement: "We are excited to be working with Cirrus. Partnering with them as a value-added distributor and managed service provider will further expand our reach into the UK and Ireland."