Baltimore Technologies: The Price for Security

With billions of dollars of transactions running across B2B systems, there
is an obvious need for security. Of course, investors have been attuned to
this and placed hefty market caps on security companies.

One is Baltimore Technologies
. Even though there was a fall in the stock, the market cap is
still $4 billion.

Baltimore Technologies is an amalgam of different companies. In January
1999, Baltimore Technologies Ltd. merged with Zergo Holdings plc (Zergo
purchased Security Domain in March 1998). As for Baltimore Technologies
Ltd., it was founded in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland.

The result is a company with 700 employees and a global presence (there are
26 offices across the world).

Over the years, Baltimore Technologies has developed a comprehensive suite
of critical technologies for security. The solutions protect virtually any
type of system: Internet, extranet or intranet.

Here are some of the products:

1.Telepathy: This is built for wireless devices. Basically, it allows for
secure mobile commerce.

2. X/Secure: This provides security for XML documents. This is critical
for B2B applications.

3. MailSecure: As the name implies, companies can secure email
transmissions.

Baltimore Technologies has definitely been able to attract major customers.
There are more than 500 (which span 40 countries). Examples include Bank of
Ireland, Visa International and the Australian Tax Office. One of the more
interesting customers is CommerceOne, which is using Baltimore Technologies
to secure transactions for its online B2B marketplaces.

In the past quarter, Baltimore Technologies had $24.6 million in revenues,
which was a 221% gain from the same period last year and a 72% sequential
increase. The company had losses of $6.7 million.

Interestingly enough, the U.S. recently passed legislation to validate digital
signatures for commerce. Other countries are following suit. And, of
course, Baltimore Technologies has the products to ride the wave across the
globe.