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Enterprise content management systems, when implemented properly, are good for getting content into the hands of those who need it. Where the content goes once it's in those hands is another issue, one that CYA Technologies hopes to solve with its Secure Collaboration Platform.

Securing enterprise files has become big business for companies such as Infraworks, SealedMedia, and Authentica thanks to an increased focus on IT security in general. There are now more opportunities than ever for information to get into the wrong hands. Mergers and acquisitions bring together employees and system; deal discussions may result in information being shared, but the deal may never be finalized; employee turnover; and online collaborations, such as those between customers and suppliers that come to an end, are all potential obstacles to keeping confidential information under wraps.

Trumbull, Conn.-based CYA has been around since 1998. Its flagship product, HOTBackUp, focuses on business continuity with regards to enterprise content management solutions. CYA's customers include Bayer, BellSouth, Cadence, Manitoba Hydro Electric, and Schering-Plough.

"People now are very aware of misuse of information," said Elaine Price, president and CEO of CYA Technologies.

The genesis of the Secure Collaboration Platform, based on a CYA product called UniVault, was an observation by CYA that some of its enterprise clients were not putting confidential information into the enterprise applications because they couldn't ensure its safety. Their enterprise software, it seems, put a little too much control in the hands of the end user.

While a lot of technologies provide access control and network security, CYA's Secure Collaboration Platform seeks to provide risk management and compliance. By adding the secure collaboration server to the application's repository, CYA's platform communicates between the server and a client known as CYA Passport, and then sends users a hyperlink to the content rather than the content itself.

Rather than accessing a Word docuemnt that can then be forwarded, printed, copied, and pasted, end users get secure content that is monitored. Administrators know what end users are doing with the content with an audit trail kept on the server. The result is controlled information use. The integrity of intellectual capital can be assured and non-disclosure agreements can be enforced.

The Passport client is freeware, so it can be used by anyone, including those who will only use it rarely or once. CYA also has what it calls Guardian connectors available for enterprise systems, making the UniVault platform flexible, and letting it adjust to current business processes.

The first version, available on April 14, does not allow printing, copying, or screen scraping of documents. It will track documents and track the number of times and length of time they are viewed.

The next version from CYA, likely available in the third quarter of 2003, will allow adminstrators more flexibility over the amount of control over each document. For example, certain documents may allow printing or copying.

The Secure Collaboration Platform costs $25,000 per server, with the entry price for smaller clients usually coming in at less than $50,000.