News

Pervasive buys security software firm

• By Rich Seeley
• April 23, 2003

Embedded database maker Pervasive Software Inc., Austin, Texas, last week announced that it had acquired "transaction intelligence" security software from ThinkNet Inc., Toronto. The purchase reinforces the emerging notion that security is no longer a concern limited to security personnel.

The technology, which enhances a business analyst desktop view with e-mail alerts of potential security problems, will be a separate product that customers can add to the Pervasive.SQL database, said Suaad Sait, vice president of marketing at Pervasive.

The addition of transaction intelligence software came in response to requests from Pervasive's customers, especially those in healthcare, retail and accounting, Sait said. The ThinkNet technology provides security information in a format that can be easily read by business and related analysis workers, he added. This is especially important to small- and medium-sized businesses in Pervasive's customer base, where IT resources are not available to pour over complex logs.

Sait said that customers were telling him: "Give me a business analyst's view of the data. Don't give me a bunch of mumbo jumbo or detailed transaction logs."

Detailed logs will be available for the sophisticated user, Sait said, but what small- and medium-sized businesses need is immediate notification of potential security problems.

With the ThinkNet technology, he said, users can set business rules with automatic alerts. For example, he said, a common type of accounting fraud involves changing addresses where checks are being sent so they do not go to the intended recipient. The new security software will allow a security officer or company executive to set a rule so that if an employee is making suspicious address changes in the database, an e-mail alert will be sent to an appropriate official so it can be investigated.

Pervasive will begin marketing the new security product later this year following enhancements it is making to better meet customer needs, Sait said.

Spun off from Novell in 1994 as Btrieve Technologies, Pervasive Software claims a channel of more than 10,000 business application developers, system integrators and solution providers. Users include Novell, Microsoft, Great Plains Software, PeachTree Software, Fair Isaac, Disney World, Radio Shack, Cardiff and others.