Sydney-based startup GuardWare Australia wants to advance data security with an encryption product that, the founder claims, overcomes factors that have limited business use of encryption.
Speaking ahead of the company’s appearance at techpartner.news’ Pipeline conference in August, GuardWare’s founder and chief executive, Rizwan Mahmood, said the sprawling nature of modern data was making data security increasingly difficult.
“Where is data? Is it in my server, is it in a cloud, is it in an app, is it in my phone? Security can no longer follow those old principles of guarding and patching.”
Mahmood said he came to the realisation that the boundary-focused approach to data security needed an upgrade.
“If someone can control information no matter where it is, no matter who accesses that information, you make a real dent into how this whole paradigm of cyber has evolved. That's what GuardWare is about.”
How it works
In Mahmood’s words, the company’s flagship product, GuardWare Protect, puts a “wrapper” around any files that the customer chooses, which then becomes an integral part of the file.
The wrapper is an encryption layer that follows the file wherever it is moved to, even if that file is renamed or copied.
When an authorised person wants to access or use the file in an approved environment, it automatically calls the encryption key and they are allowed in.
If there is a breach and data is lost, the data owner can destroy the key, rendering the files inaccessible.
GuardWare’s products are based on Microsoft’s encryption technology, adding functionality.
The solution has integration with ERP systems such as Salesforce and SAP so that data is immediately encrypted as it is downloaded, and unencrypted when it is uploaded without the need for user intervention.
Use cases include allowing temporary sharing of intellectual property during interorganisational collaborative work, or of details during a request for tender (RFT).
When the RFT is done or the collaboration is over, access to those sensitive files can be remotely cut by destroying the encryption key, according to GuardWare, even if the file has been copied.
Under the radar
Mahmood founded GuardWare in 2022 while he was working as data security and compliance director for e-Safe Systems.
During the startup’s first two years, Mahmood worked on raising capital and making connections, taking part in a 2022 showcase held by Northrop Grumman Australia.
By the end of 2024, Mahmood had left e-Safe and raised capital for GuardWare, which was now serving customers with threat visibility, assessment, and management products.
It obtained a $7 million grant, jointly with the University of New South Wales Sydney, to develop a data security solution for Australia’s defence supply chain through the Defence Trailblazer initiative by the Australian Government’s Department of Education.
Now, the company is hoping to scale up by offering a range of cybersecurity solutions that, Mahmood said, “help you to identify, classify, monitor, alert, educate and protect information.”
Looking for partners
Mahmood said the company is seeking partners to resell GuardWare’s products, which he said were suitable for enterprises and small and medium businesses.
GuardWare business development manager Richard Matthewman added that the company is looking to work with large and small MSPs.
“Even a small MSP with the local medical practice that they're supporting; or they might have an aged care home they're looking after. They'll be able to add value to that client and protect their data. They've never been able to do it before," Matthewman said.
Mahmood said the simplest way for partners to begin with GuardWare was with its Assessor product that uses a monitoring tool to assess for risks within an organisation’s systems.
“For every 100 users that we do an assessment for, we find one very serious incident occurring within that organisation. And when I say a serious incident, I mean a serious incident of actual data theft.”
He said GuardWare recognised the potential of the IT channel to help expand the company’s reach to a broad range of end customers.
“We are a channel focused organisation and we want to focus on our channels in Australia, because, like I said, I'm passionate about the SMB market, and the only way we are going to get it uplifted is through the channel.”
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