NEW YORK, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ATAKAMA Inc., a data security company based in NYC, announced today that for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be offering its groundbreaking new data security software for free to businesses in need while workers remain at home.

Atakama provides businesses with unparalleled protection for confidential, proprietary and client files all without disrupting how users interact with their data. Atakama's one-of-a-kind information security solution is designed to keep business data safe from attacks, even when other security fails. Atakama offers customizable security policies to best fit individualized business needs and user workflows.

Founded in 2017 by a team of entrepreneurs, engineers, and cryptographers, Atakama has since developed a software that enables each file to be encrypted individually without employing passwords or centralized key storage. Its patent-pending distributed key management software seamlessly distributes pieces of encryption keys to physical devices controlled by the user. By eliminating the need for passwords, Atakama ensures that data is protected even when other cybersecurity measures fail.

"Granular, file-level encryption is one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools available for information security," says Atakama's CEO, Daniel H. Gallancy. "Its underutilization has been a consequence of cumbersome deployment requirements, scalability difficulties and concerns about lost encryption keys. By making use of threshold cryptography, Atakama eliminates the barriers to the successful use of file-level encryption. In today's environment, where a significant percentage of the workforce is remote, businesses need to bolster their security systems, both as a means of protecting a distributed workforce and as a means of defending against an unfortunate opportunistic increase in attacks. I have been overwhelmed by the entire Atakama team's outspoken desire to provide assistance to businesses in need. We've decided to offer Atakama for free for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The company is offering a version of their software free to businesses for a limited period. To learn more and to request a live demo and installation of the software, visit http://www.atakama.com/data-security, or email info@atakama.com.

About Atakama:

Atakama Inc. is an information security software company that provides unparalleled data protection for businesses. By employing a file-by-file encryption design, Atakama eliminates the ability for attackers to directly profit off of confidential data, and substantially mitigates the damage of unpreventable attacks. Atakama's encryption solution helps companies adhere to mandatory compliance regulations and in the process, provides best-in-class protection for sensitive and non-public information. Atakama's distributed key management protocols can be customized based on company or department needs, seamlessly integrates with existing cybersecurity stacks, and can be deployed within hours. Undeniably, a vast improvement over the status quo.

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Atakama Announces It Will Be Offering Its Encryption Software To Businesses In Need For Free - Salamanca Press

By law, financial firms are required to collect personal information about their customers, which ultimately ends up in online databases. Cryptocurrencies could create a more open financial system with improved consumer privacy protections

Even as all of humanity mobilises against COVID-19, thoughts are turning to how the world will be different after the crisis. As businesses rush to adapt to the new world of social distancing, the pandemic has accelerated an already inexorable trend towards digital commerce. This broader shift should also include the widespread adoption of digital currencies, which provide stronger consumer financial and privacy protections.

For most of the 20th century, encryption was reserved for national security needs. Cryptography helped the Allies win the Second World War, and then protected secret communications during the Cold War. Until as recently as 1992, the US, as a matter of national security, did not allow cryptographic technology to be exported. Encrypted communication was not widely available, and anyone using it was assumed to have something to hide.

But starting in the 1990s, early internet entrepreneurs began calling for encryption to be used in e-commerce, arguing that it was needed in order to protect customer credit card numbers, passwords and other information entered online. It turned out that the same encryption technology that had been created in academic labs where trust and collaboration reigned could be useful to everyone.

Cryptocurrencies hold the promise of creating a more open financial system with worldwide access, instantaneous fund transfers, lower costs and vastly improved consumer privacy protections

Changing expectationsUS policymakers and law enforcement initially balked at this push towards widespread encryption. In their view, privacy for everyone meant privacy for terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers. As then FBI Director Louis J Freeh told Congress in 1994, preserving the US Governments ability to intercept internet communications was the number one law enforcement, public safety and national security issue facing us.

The debate about end-to-end encryption is still raging. But, crucially, consumer expectations have changed since the 1990s. The overwhelming majority of internet traffic is now encrypted, and most of us have been trained to look for the closed-lock icon in our browser before entering sensitive information. Popular apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage and Signal have led the way in normalising private messaging that cant be tracked by third parties.

But there is one area of our lives where privacy is not yet the norm: our personal financial information. By law, financial firms are required to collect reams of personal information about their customers. This information ultimately ends up in online databases, where it presents a tempting target for hackers. In 2017, the credit rating firm Equifax revealed that a data breach had exposed sensitive information about more than 147 million consumers, or just under half of the US population. That followed a similar breach in 2013, when hackers famously obtained the names, credit card numbers and other information about tens of millions of Target customers.

Anonymous moneyFortunately, a solution is on the horizon. Cryptocurrencies hold the promise of creating a more open financial system with worldwide access, instantaneous fund transfers, lower costs and vastly improved consumer privacy protections. When bitcoin first gained popularity, many people incorrectly assumed that it was anonymous money. In fact, as a blockchain technology, it uses a public ledger that records a digital trail of every transaction. Blockchain analytics firms are thus now helping law enforcement track down criminals who thought their trail was covered. And cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase have instituted robust anti-money-laundering and Know Your Customer programs that rival those of any financial institution.

Several more recent developments in cryptocurrency technologies promise to take consumer privacy to even higher levels, and they are sure to be controversial. First, privacy coins such as Zcash and Monero offer new cryptocurrency protocols that make every transaction untraceable. Other cryptocurrencies aspire to replicate these features, and even JPMorgan Chase has explored private transactions through its Quorum cryptocurrency. This shift is a bit like when websites moved from HTTP to HTTPS as the global standard: it lets consumers know that their information is protected by default.

For countries thinking about cryptocurrency policy, the best approach will be to strike a balance between law enforcement, cybersecurity, privacy, innovation and economic competitiveness

Second, so-called non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets now enable customers to store their own private keys (which allow one to move funds) instead of relying on a third party. By not actually storing customer funds, the providers of non-custodial wallets are aiming to position themselves as software companies rather than financial institutions subject to regulation. In the past, non-custodial wallets required a certain degree of technical sophistication to operate, limiting their use. But, like encrypted messaging apps, they are becoming increasingly accessible to a mass market.

A new generationUnsurprisingly, these innovations have alarmed banks, regulators and law enforcement agencies. But just as the early internet needed encryption to enable digital commerce, cryptocurrencies need privacy protections to unlock their full power and potential. Whether one needs to guard against authoritarian regimes, data harvesters or criminals, the best way to ensure that sensitive financial data isnt hacked is to avoid having to collect it in the first place.

Enhancing consumer financial protections does not mean giving free rein to criminals. Law enforcement agencies still have a wide range of tools at their disposal, from subpoenaing cryptocurrency exchanges to examining conversions into and out of fiat currencies (which are likely to remain the choke points for law enforcement). And these exchanges will continue to be regulated as financial services, regardless of whether consumers are using privacy coins or non-custodial wallets.

Having watched the US benefit enormously from the creation of the worlds leading internet companies, many countries are now working to attract the next generation of cryptocurrency firms. For countries thinking about cryptocurrency policy, the best approach, as always, will be to strike a balance between law enforcement, cybersecurity, privacy, innovation and economic competitiveness.

Consumers in a free society will always demand and expect reasonable levels of privacy. Our financial lives are no exception. Fortunately, cryptocurrencies can fix some of the most vexing issues in financial services. As we plan to rebuild economically after the COVID-19 crisis, we must allow these technologies to grow.

Project Syndicate 2020

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Will COVID-19 finally usher in the age of the cryptocurrency? - The New Economy

Decentralized exchanges are getting a little more professional.

DeversiFi announced yesterday the mainnet launch of new upgrades to the DeversiFi decentralized exchange, bringing a host of new features to create a professional-grade exchange platform with experienced traders in mind.

The upgrade includes support for StarkWares ZK-STARK layer 2 scaling solution, enabling more than 9,000 transactions per second on the decentralized exchange (DEX). Its sure to be a major player in the crypto exchange landscape, where the popularity of decentralized exchanges is already growing rapidly. (StarkWare, which raised $30 million in a Series A in 2018, is backed by Ethereum incubator ConsenSys, which also funds an editorially independent Decrypt.)

The DiversiFi upgrade also brings self-custodial control for digital assets, allowing users to make trades without needing to first send their tokens to a wallet controlled by DeversiFi, as is required to trade on centralized competitors like Binance or Poloniex. Other changes include API improvements, improved market order mechanisms, and support for Ledger hardware wallets.

Commercial grade Defi needs robust cryptography and ZK-STARKs are fastest in class, post-quantum safe and can easily scale to tens of thousands of transactions per second with no trusted setup, StarkWare co-founder and president Eli Ben Sasson said in a statement.

Partnering with DeversiFi will bring the benefits of ZK-STARK technology into the hands of every trader. We are excited to see traders embracing self-custodial trading without sacrificing liquidity or speed.

Alternative decentralized exchanges, such as IDEX or Uniswap, enable basic token swapping, but often lack more advanced tools like order books, limit orders, and other tools often employed by professional traders. To achieve some of these features and the instantaneous settlement required for some advanced trading strategies, DeversiFi uses an off-chain order book, but still settles trades on the Ethereum blockchain.

ZK-STARK technology also offers greater privacy for DeversiFi users, as individual transactions are not visible on the blockchain, instead grouped into aggregate transaction blocks verified by hashes.

Before becoming DiversiFi, the decentralized exchange service was founded as Ethfinex in 2017 and incubated by the Bitfinex exchange for two years. DiversiFi became fully independent in August 2019.

The DiversiFi upgrade also introduces the Data Availability Committee (DAC), which records token balances off-chain (like tokens reserved for filling limit orders) to ensure that if the exchange goes offline, trades can still withdraw any tokens held in DeversiFi smart contracts. Members of the DAC include Infura, Nethermind, Cephalopod, and ConsenSys.

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Ethereum-based exchange DeversiFi gets an upgrade, targets pro traders - Decrypt

Trust Stampis launching a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Republic of Malta to advance its biometric and cryptographic identity authentication technology.

The company has secured 1 million (roughly US$1.1 million) in funding in the form of a 200,000 ($227,000) grant and a low-interest loan of up to 800,000 ($908,000) to cover three-quarters of the salaries it pays Malta-based employees. The loan is repayable through 10 percent of the Maltese subsidiarys annual profits.

We have been working with Malta Enterprise for over a year and are very impressed both by Maltas commitment to the continued growth of their technology industry, and by our shared commitment to substantially increasing the participation of women in the technology sector, comments Trust Stamp CEO Gareth N. Genner. In recent months, we have engaged with many of Maltas government departments and we have executed a letter of intent to work together on a broad range of technology initiatives.

Trust Stamp is reported to be preparing for a $32 million IPO in Ireland this year. The AIID symbol, combining Trust Stamps focus on AI and ID, has been reserved for its listing. The company is planning to raise $7 million or more in a Series A funding effort recently launched to the SeedInvest platform, with direct investments from Mastercard International, Second Century Ventures and FSH Capital.

Malta will not only host an expanded R&D team including our new Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program but will also serve as the base for our public-benefit subsidiary AiiD to work with NGOs and governments throughout Africa, Genner added. Malta has a long-term commitment to working with a number of African governments, and there are tremendous opportunities for us to partner with both the Malta government and other Maltese enterprises.

Africa | authentication | biometrics | cryptography | Malta | research and development | Trust Stamp

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Trust Stamp launching Malta subsidiary with government support to deliver biometric ID to Africa - Biometric Update