F-Secure has launched a new Dropbox-style online sync and share service for small and medium-sized businesses, designed to keep their data safe while they collaborate, and away from the prying eyes of government spooks.
Citing its own Digital Company Survey of last year, the Finnish security vendor said 45% of firms that don’t use online storage name a lack of control and security concerns as the main reasons for not doing so.
It has responded with the launch of younited for Business, an SMB version of its consumer-grade namesake introduced last year.
It offers a Group Space feature allowing users to collaborate on projects, whether with employees inside the same organization or partners and customers outside. Individuals are always presented with the latest version of a file, but they can go back to previous versions if they wish, the firm said.
Younited for Business is also available as an app on PC, Mac, iOS, Windows Phone 8 and Android devices, and can also be accessed from a web browser, allowing employees to stay productive on the move, safe in the knowledge that their data is always backed up to F-Secure’s servers.
On that note, the security player is making much of its 25-year heritage in the industry, and that customer data
will be stored in a “European cloud away from prying eyes”. This, presumably, is a reference to the Edward Snowden revelations of widespread spying on user data in the US by the NSA.
All content uploads to the service are done using AES-256 encryption, the firm clarified.
Younited for Business can also be managed from the same centralized portal as F-Secure’s cloud security offering, Protection Service for Business (PSB), which will appeal to existing customers.
It’s available in three flavors – 5GB, 100GB and 500GB – and can be bought via the firm’s European reseller partners, 126 of which are based in the UK. The entry-level package is priced at €43.89, the 100GB at €121 and the 500GB at €319.
However, customers can mix and match packages according to their needs, thanks to flexible pricing.
“For example, in a 20 user company, maybe 12 users only need 5GB, six users need 100GB and the remaining two users need the 500GB,” marketing manager Nicki Wells told Infosecurity.
“Hence, unlike many of the competitors, this now gives SMBs the option to get started with true user management in place without having to invest in large quantities of potentially unused storage space. They can simply buy more as and when they need it.”
That said, F-Secure will be joining an already crowded market with its latest offering.
Citrix, Trend Micro and Hitachi Data Systems are just some of the enterprise IT vendors with similar products.