PGP aims for the cloud with TC TrustCenter buy

PGP hopes to offer an integrated approach to data protection

Data protection software vendor PGP Corporation today announced the acquisition of German company TC TrustCenter and its parent ChosenSecurity, in a deal designed to expand PGP's capabilities in digital identity management, authentication and secure collaboration.

PGP hopes to move beyond its core competency of encryption and key management apps, to offer an integrated approach to data protection covering encryption, key management and identity and access.

Rajiv Dholakia, vice president of corporate strategy at PGP and general manger of the newly created business unit, praised TC TrustCenter's deep expertise in technologies such as Public Key Infrastructure, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and digital signing.

Dholakia said during a web conference to announce the deal that the purchase will allow PGP to offer trusted identities for encryption, authentication and secure collaboration on servers, mobile devices and individuals.

"The deal will also provide a new way for us to deliver our security solutions to customers," he added. "We have always been focused on products - shipping software - but this adds a managed services delivery model for us."

PGP will also establish itself as a "trust authority" for the first time, providing SSL certificates for secure internet transactions, said Dholakia.

"This expands the kind of trust we can extend to applications," he said. "It is no longer enough to have data protection. Trust, and trust related to identity, is a key ingredient."