Tech startup CEO fights data theft
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Inspien CEO Choi Jeong-gyu
By Kim Tae-gyu
As far as personal data security is concerned, this year started with a series of very gloomy news headlines after a credit ratings agency employee was found in January to have stolen data of millions of credit card users.
Then came the hacking of the country’s runner-up mobile operator KT’s website — they compromised the Internet site to steal personal information of a total of 9.81 million clients.
Still the head of a domestic venture start-up claims that these security problems can be addressed once and for all through dedicated programs.
“We have developed a high-security solution for SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) programs, which can block insiders from trying to steal personal information,” Inspien CEO Choi Jeong-gyu said.
“Any malpractices would be stopped and notified to managers on a real-time basis. Hence, users of the solution dubbed xCon for SAP won’t face such security mishaps like those of card issuers or KT where internal officials are believed to play a role.”
ERP refers to a business management software which companies use to store and manage data from every stage of their work. In a nutshell, it holds all personal data of corporations.
SAP of Germany is the dominant provider of the ERP applications in the world. That is also the case in Korea as such flagship players as Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG groups depend on them.
“We could develop security-enhanced solutions after two and a half years of efforts. We don’t think that any other players in the world can do so,” the 43-year-old said.
Since its launch in 2010, Inspien has chalked up fast growth as sales hit the 5 billion won mark last year. It seeks to record a 20-percent growth in turnover this year at 6 billion won.
Toward that end, the Seoul-based company fixes its eyes on overseas markets full of upside potentials.
“Other global firms have the same needs for a solution to improve security when they use ERP programs of SAP,” Choi said. “We hope that we will be able to reap tangible results next year in the world markets.”
The outfit also has a good bottom line — its operating profit ratio amounted to some 20 percent last year that is by far higher than the industry norm.
Choi started his professional career in 1999 as a researcher of Daewoo Information Systems. Then, he worked for a pair of local high-tech companies in the first decade of the new millennium before founding Inspien in 2010.