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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/25195/full/25195/startup-is-taking-off/ <br /><br /> <b>Startup is taking off</b> <br /> Friday, February 18, 2005 | by <p>nicky blackburn </p> <br /><br /><p><b>jerusalem |</b>  When Drew Tick developed electronic publishing software during the technological boom of the late 1990s, he made the classic mistake of entrepreneurs at that period and developed a product that was “nice” to have.<br /><br /> By 2000, his company Zebra Pushware Solutions was out of business, and the technology was sold to a Korean IT group for a disappointing $2 million. In 2002, wiser and more cautious, Tick set up his next startup, Code Red, with a product that he knew was a must-have.<br /><br /> Three years later, Tick is optimistic that Code Red — a wireless security specialist — is on exactly the right track. The Jerusalem startup already has “real sales to real customers” according to Tick, and has two promising products on the market, with a third one to follow in the next couple of months.<br /><br /> Wireless security, also known as Wi-Fi, is one of the hottest Internet technologies today. It allows users in Wi-Fi connected areas to plug into the Internet wirelessly through laptops or PDAs (personal digital assistants). Jerusalem, for example, recently became the first city in Israel to deploy a free citywide Wi-Fi network, enabling users to wirelessly log into the Net.<br /><br /> The potential of Wi-Fi is huge, and the market is growing rapidly, but the security problems are equally enormous. When Tick and co-founder Haim Engler, Code Red’s chief technological officer, first began exploring the market in 2001, they realized that if they could develop a solution for security problems in this sector, they could be looking at a substantial market opportunity.<br /><br /> Engler, who worked in the wireless sector during his army service, began developing a secure technology, and Tick began touting it. In the gloomy days of 2001, however, no one showed interest. Instead, Code Red joined Patir Research and Development, the business incubator at the Jerusalem College of Technology, and received $300,000 in funding over two years to get the company in motion.<br /><br /> “We would never have dreamed of looking at an incubator in 2000, but in 2002, we realized that this was the only way to get this company off the ground,” admits Tick.<br /><br /> Code Red was founded in January 2002 and began development of a secure solution for residential and small business Wi-Fi use. By the start of 2003, though it was still just a four-man outfit, Code Red began to get phone calls from large companies, supermarkets and food manufacturers, that were hunting for a secure solution for their warehouses and factories.<br /><br /> “Industrial companies were the early adopters of Wi-Fi technology,” explains Tick, 43, who made aliyah from Massachusetts. “They began using wireless devices like wireless bar code readers and forklift-mounted computers as much as 10 years ago. As Wi-Fi becomes more widespread and increasing numbers of wireless laptops are shipped, these large players are suddenly waking up to the realization that their networks are wide open to attack.”<br /><br /> Hackers or industrial spies can hack into these devices to eavesdrop on company business or to penetrate the company’s central computers in what Tick calls “parking lot-based wireless attacks.”<br /><br /> Tick realized that this was an opportunity the company could not miss.<br /><br /> “I can’t say it was part of my strategy, but the difference between 2000 and 2004 is that if you have a real customer who wants a product in your area of expertise, then you do it,” he explains.<br /><br /> Code Red temporarily put its residential solution aside, and in November 2004 introduced its first product — the AirBlock Industrial Edition. The software solution is designed specifically for industrial environments, and provides security for both new and legacy equipment. A graphic user interface enables centralized control, which shows the status of all wireless access points and devices connected to the network in real-time. The solution also provides alerts for system failures and unauthorized access.<br /><br /> The technology has already been deployed by some large industrial companies in Israel. Tick declines to give names, however.<br /><br /> “The second I do PR about a company that has purchased this equipment, every hacker will appear on their doorstep,” says Tick.</p> <p> </p>

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