PETALING JAYA: The Covid-19 pandemic has become the accelerator of digital economy transformation and with the forced shutters, many companies took their business online to ensure the continuity of cash flow and sustainability. With rapid digitalisation, many businesses without proper digital security fortification have become extremely susceptible to online security breaches.
This is where Securemetric Bhd comes into the picture. Securemetric is a Malaysian digital security technology company that offers innovative solutions across Southeast Asia and beyond. The company’s vision is to play a key role especially in the region’s digital economic transformation.
Securemetric CEO Edward Law (pix) said the company focuses on three areas for digital security: Securing Digital ID, Securing Mobile Applications and Securing Online Transactions.
Securing Digital ID is a process in helping organisations or governments to set up Public Key Infrastructure that will form the fundamental of trust within the digital economy.
Securing Mobile Applications is building a framework to protect mobile applications from highly vulnerable mobile phone environments through Run-Time Application Self Protection.
Securing Online Transactions is enforcing strong user authentication to ensure only authorised users can perform a transaction through digital signature to achieve legally binding authorisation with tamper-proof protection.
Securemetric recommends that businesses take heed in securing their digital footprint for their businesses as fraud is rampant in tandem with businesses making the digital shift.
Law introduced two cloud-hosted security-as-a-service (SaaS) by Securemetric that can protect businesses and agencies for everyday transactions:
► SigningCloud
SigningCloud is a secured cloud-hosted digital signature service that was built as a fully Public Key Infrastructure-based digital signing cloud. This means every signer is required to sign in with their digital ID either through SigningCloud ID or Trusted Certificate Authority ID.
“Our vision is to make SigningCloud the universal signing platform that supports many trusted digital IDs across Southeast Asia.”
► Centagate Cloud
Centagate Cloud is an cloud-hosted authentication service similar to Okta and Onelogin. It can help organisations deploy Single Sign-On – a single login credential that can be used to access across enterprise applications.
“I believe businesses would require seamless and effortless access to their company’s productivity tools. Centagate Cloud will be able to provide that ease of access,” said Law.
The Innov8tif investment
As Securemetric evolves into an SaaS company to offer more comprehensive security solutions to various sectors, its board of directors made a decision to invest RM8 million into Innov8tif Sdn Bhd, a company that specialises in AI-based digital ID assurance, which includes emerging areas such as e-KYC (electronic know-your-customer) and mobile biometric authentication.
“The area of digital ID assurance experienced a sharp increase in demand due to the pandemic. Covid-19 and the repetitive lockdowns pushed businesses to prioritised digitisation of their customers’ onboarding process.
“With the risk of financial loss or fine by the authorities due to the on-boarding fraudulent IDs, businesses are finding it a need to include e-KYC as part of their digital customer acquisition process,” explained Law.
The 2021 Identity Fraud Study released by Javelin Strategy & Research revealed that total combined fraud losses climbed to US$56 billion in 2020, and are expected to increase in years to come.
“We invested in Innov8tif because of their strong proven track records, especially in their digital identity assurance area. There are a lot of synergies between both companies in terms of market access, with Innov8tif having a stronger presence in Malaysia while Securemetric possesses a stronger market share in Southeast Asia, as well as in the aspect of technology.”
Eventually, both companies will explore the potential of cross-selling that will bring mutual benefits.
Securemetric – a company with strong formula for digital security
Securemetric is one of Southeast Asia’s leading players in digital security with a core focus on Software Licensing Protection (Software License Dongle, Software Protection Dongle), 2-Factor Authentication, Advanced Identity and Access Management, Public Key Infrastructure and Cryptography. Since its incorporation in 2007, Securemetric has expanded its footprint with local establishments in Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.
“As the trend for getting quality and reliable digital security solutions has changed from ‘good-to-have’ to ‘must-have’, the key challenge remains with total ownership cost dominated by the US dollar or euro.”
Law said the local and Southeast Asian markets need options that best fit their pockets and also someone who understands and solves their problems better.
“We believe that with our experience of over a hundred years in accumulated mission-critical digital security, we can be on par with global brands and offer options that fit the Southeast Asian market and beyond.”
