This past week, C/Net wrote a post on how compliance, rather than protection, is the focus of most corporations when it comes to security. The report (PDF), commissioned by RSA and Microsoft, found that corporate IP is 62 percent of a company's assets, but most security programs focus on compliance rather than data protection.

But, if you take a step back, it makes sense. Corporations are in business to make money. Security purchasing is one of those things that does not affect the bottom line ... until compliance (and those pesky fines) come into play. It's like healthcare - very few of us do preventative medicine (the yearly check-ups and all that fun stuff). Nope, we wait until we're sick ... or are forced to go to the doctor. Or taxes - none of us want to pay taxes, but come April 15, we feel compelled to pay them. We comply with the government regulations; for corporations, they comply with government regulations as well, and spend on security reactively (to the 

That's us - we're the compliance folks. We help small- and medium-sized enterprise companies make sure they are compliant with a wide variety of regulations, ranging from HIPAA, HITECH, FERPA, PCI and others. We are in the data loss prevention business to help make sure companies stay on the up and up with compliance issues. 

No, I'm not discounting that corporations need to invest in security beyond compliance - companies need to have full, robust security to protect their intellectual property and data. Data loss prevention is part of that mix; besides making sure that information is not mistakenly sent out, there is that protection that information is not purposely sent out as well. 

So Palisade Systems is your compliance cop that helps you stay secure. 

We last talked about our reseller program last month - when we signed up with Secure Content Technologies to up our game with a reseller focused on business and education. 

Now, to continue our streak we have signed on Pittsburgh-based Connectivity Communications to our VIP Reseller Program. As a reseller, Connectivity Communications will market Palisade Systems PacketSure solution to the small and medium enterprise market seeking a full data loss prevention solution.

Connectivity Communications of Pittsburgh is a full service data communications and IT security provider, supplying corporations with security focused methodologies and senior level consulting services for the purpose of reducing and eliminating unauthorized access to business critical digital information and complying with current, and pending, legislation relating to Healthcare Information Security, Financial Information Security and Corporate Information Security.

In other words, Connectivity Communications will help Palisade Systems get the word out about PacketSure to the healthcare and financial industries, focusing on the SME market that means the most to our company. With PacketSure, organizations get a comprehensive data loss prevention solution with both an installed and managed solution.

Palisade Systems has one of the fastest growing VAR networks, with more than 20 signing on this year. 

Palisade's PacketSure™ Data Loss Prevention solution can help secure confidential data on the network. View a video demo, or get a live demo, or get a free Secure Assessment.

Recently, our internal customer advocate wrote about El Paso Independent School District using Palisade Systems PacketSure for their data loss prevention needs. Today, the press release was sent out over the Wire to various educational and security reporters, touting the relationship between Palisade and EPISD.

It is a testament to our internal staff that we have long-standing customers like EPISD using our products, and having the confidence in our products to continue to use us as we grow with their security needs. With the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), school districts around the nation had to begin thinking beyond the basic IT structure of security but beyond: how to keep data secure and make sure that information was not accidentally (or, in the case of student-athletes, purposely) leaked or lost to the vapor. 

When EPISD set up a security assessment from Palisade, they got to see first hand the information being sent out, data that was being captured in their test of the PacketSure application. It is this data that FERPA is concerned with, a pillar in our compliance to help school districts stay on the right side of the Act and protect students, administrators, teachers and staff.

 We are happy to be working with EPISD and help keep them secure. We look forward to continuing to work with school districts, and helping new districts be DLP safe.

Palisade Systems has a very distinct place in the data loss prevention (DLP) market: we concentrate on the small and medium sized enterprise. We focus on that market segment because they need DLP just as much as the big guys, and likely even moreso. For the small and medium businesses - especially in healthcare, education, financial markets - you aren't looking at massive organizations that can snap their fingers and implement a DLP solution, but businesses that look at each detail and know they need to be compliant with PCI, FERPA, HIPAA/HITECH and other regulations.

Today, we announced the first of many reseller announcements with Secure Content Technologies. Based in Ohio, the company focuses on the business and education segments that are key drivers for Palisade, and in markets that we target. Working with Secure Content Technologies - and the about 20 other resellers we have signed on the past quarter - we are able to work with resellers across the country and provide them with the best DLP solution for the small and medium market, as well as help them continue to position themselves as IT leaders in their regions with various programs that we provide our resellers.

As noted, this is one of many reseller releases in the queue right now, and something that we continue to pursue. Our reseller program brings many opportunities to IT firms, including participating in our company’s marketing initiatives, PSI Registration and Secure Assessment Programs, Extended Terms Programs and sales, training and other support that brings resellers into the Palisade family. 

Continue to watch the reseller space, and let us know if you are interested!

With the introduction of Google Buzz this week there has been a lot of talk about how this is going to change communications. Of course, these are the same conversations people were having about Google Wave and how Wave was going to change collaboration for corporations and become the de facto enterprise software that was going to take on WebEx, Sharepoint and other collaboration software out there.

Now, it's Buzz that's for the enterprise, as announced by Google. The company is going to developing tools for the enterprise with Buzz and hopes that it will help move more people to Google Apps and the cloud, in it's continued battle with Microsoft. 

All of this, though, comes with security questions. Both Wave and Buzz allow people to share information - links, documents and more - easily with one button links and uploads. Already, there are concerns about Buzz regarding security (although more identity security than data security) with the leakage of contacts that is just put out there on people's profiles (who you chat and email with is really only your own concern). But the real issue is the ease of sharing data and documents with anyone in your network - personal or professional - and how easy it is to share the wrong information.

Last quarter, we announced how PacketSure works with Twitter and Facebook, ensuring that data is protected and preventing data loss. In the same press release, we noted that the engineers were looking at Wave and how that affects DLP; now, we will of course be looking for the enterprise version of Buzz and seeing how that works, as well as taking a look at the consumer version of Buzz.

With all these social media tools - ones that we also love and use - we are not talking about becoming Luddites (or neo-Luddites), but we do believe that any good DLP policy includes employee education. While we stop information from being accidentally leaked, the educated employee understands what should and should not be shared (due to federal regulations and compliance, and more). With the ease of Buzz and Wave, that brings it more to the forefront. And we continue to work on PacketSure to make sure that our customers are protected no matter what new services are out there.

A few weeks ago, the attorney general of the state of Connecticut sued HealthNet for a "massive security breach" releasing patient records. According to published reports, this is actually the first time a company has been sued over the HITECH Act, and quite possibly is the first of what could be many suits filed by attorney generals across the nation.

In a way, it's a test case for the large healthcare providers, insurance companies and others that touch patient records (which, in some cases, includes call centers). With the first suit filed, other states will take note on how the case proceeds, and whether or not to pursue their own HITECH lawsuits due to patient data loss or leakage. While the obvious place for the attorney generals to start is the large organizations - hence HealthNet being the test case - the trickle down affect will eventually reach the doctor's offices, the corner pharmacy, and call centers. While it may start at the top, it will reach the bottom, smaller offices.

That's the key here: with the HITECH Act being enforced, how soon before the smaller doctor's office, who accidentally leaked or shared patient information via email or other electronic means, gets a knock on the door from the attorney general's office? The key is encryption, data loss prevention, trained and educated employees, but that takes hours of IT training and implementation.

And, realistically, the smaller offices do not have the time, manpower or budget for the large-enterprise DLP solutions. Nor, well, do they need a large-scale solution. That's where Palisade Systems comes in. One of our four cornerstones of business is the SME healthcare market. Go on, read the case study and I'll wait.

That's our business: helping the small and medium size enterprise healthcare organizations stay HITECH compliant. We do the worrying so healthcare organizations can be worry-free. We are easily implemented - either hosted or managed services - so they don't need a dedicated IT staff. We automatically update to keep on top of the security, encryption and compliance issues so doctors, pharmacists, health insurance brokers and their staff can do what they do best: take care of the patients and help them get healthy.

And, with our PacketSure product line, we do the same for healthcare organizations: we make sure they stay "healthy" and do not run afoul of HITECH. It's what we do, we do it for the small and medium enterprise, and we do it so other's don't need to worry.  

Palisade Systems CEO Christian Renaud will be speaking on a panel in West Des Moines, Iowa for the Des Moines Business Record/Hanser and Associates 2010 survey of business use of social media.  If you are reading this, then you already know that Palisade Systems leverages social media extensively in communicating with our customers, vendors, and press/analysts.  If you plan to be in the area, this should be a worthwhile use of your time.

You can register here.

Today was a big day for Apple computers - or not so big, if you fell for the hype of the product - but the introduction of the iPad brings in a new level of computing to the industry. Not a netbook, but not an iPhone, the iPad is an inexpensively priced device that is "revolutionary" according to today's event.

Now, how revolutionary is up for debate, but it is interesting to note that the company is making inroads to the corporate world. According to the recent earnings call, COO Tim Cook noted that "some 70 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are actively piloting or deploying iPhones, and 50 percent of the FTSE 100." 

Further, this interest has been driven by "recent features adds (aka support for Microsoft Exchange) and the 3GS launch." (Quotes and article from GigaOm's Om Malik).

If large corporations are beginning to adopt smartphones - beyond RIM's BlackBerry and Windows Mobile - but extended to Google Droid and iPhones, this brings in a new level of security and concerns about data loss prevention. While the SME market tends to be more desktop oriented, people do do basic tasks, especially email, on the fly. The iPhone and BlackBerry have shown this to be true. And with email comes the potential for accidental data leakage. 

With the SME, this becomes a greater concern as there is more to lose with an employee mistake. With compliance issues at the forefront of any company's mind and concern, company's need to ensure that just email is secure and prevent loss. That's where companies, such as Palisade Systems, will be able to help companies as they implement iPhones and iPads: the security on the email system will ensure that nothing bad gets out, that the company is not violating any PCI, HIPAA or FERPA compliance.

And that's the key. As more of these devices come into the forefront, and people who are tied down at desktops want to be able to answer emails on the run, they need to keep in mind that those emails have implications beyond the sale or answers. They need to be compliant for whichever industry they are in, making sure that they are protected, as well as their company. A robust DLP solution - such as PacketSure - helps them have peace of mind late at night, and sleep knowing things are protected.

Please come and join us for the housewarming party to commemorate the opening of our new headquarters!  We want to thank all of our customers, investors, and the vendors that made the HQ move possible!

We'll be gathering at Palisade's corporate headquarters this Thursday the 28th from 3pm to 7pm, at:

400 Locust Street

Suite 700

Des Moines, IA 50309

Food and beverages will be provided, including choice selections from my personal wine cellar. Please RSVP to carole@palisadesystems.com if you are able to make it so we can reserve you a wine glass and a name tag!

We look forward to seeing you!

One of the tenets of Palisade Systems' corporate culture is to be environmentally conscious in how we sell and support our products.  In the spirit of being green, we are going to be speaking tomorrow, Thursday January 21st, about the real uses of DLP with John Jainschigg, the Executive Director of the Internet & Technology lab for ZiffDavis Enterprise as part of the Smarter Technology Virtual program, sponsored by IBM.  Instead of a flat conference bridge, or Webex, we'll be socializing as avatars virtually in the Smarter  Technology Conference Center within Second Life, a virtual world communication and social networking platform. 

No plane/train/auto trips will be harmed in order to interact with the large, erudite group they typically host for these gatherings. 

For those of you who have never experienced a virtual conference or briefing, please join us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific/4PM Eastern!