Globalock out to secure spot in digital market

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Auckland start-up firm Globalock hopes to tap into a potentially big export market with a system that allows digital locks, as used on safes and vaults, to be programmed remotely via the internet.

It has developed a lock management system, involving a secure web site, that allows clients to control digital locks that have been fitted with an electronic device receiving commands over the wide area pager network.

Authorised users may access the Globalock service (at www.globalock.com) and control multiple safes or vaults up to a national level.

Globalock chief executive John Hodgson said all sensitive data, including safe combinations, would be stored on a series of mirrored Globalock secure servers, eliminating exposure such as in the case of laptop theft.

Communication between the user and the Globalock server, and from the server to the lock controller, would be protected by Verisign 128-bit and Blowfish 64-bit encryption respectively.

"People tend to get a bit paranoid about security over the internet and especially the pager network, so we have adopted industry-best practices," Mr Hodgson said.

The pager network had been chosen over alternatives such as the mobile phone GMS network as it allowed multiple locks to be re-programmed simultaneously, typically in less than one minute.

Mr Hodgson said the system, which had been developed with the help of a $405,000 grant from Technology NZ, was the first of its kind in the world.

The Globalock system may be retrofitted to existing digital locks manufactured by companies such as Legard, Sargent and Greenleaf, and Unican.

He said the worldwide market for digital locks was big as they were used by hotels, restaurant chains and many retail outlets, as well as banks.

Up to 85 per cent of safes use traditional mechanical combination locks, but the proportion of digital locks is increasing rapidly and the US market alone is estimated to be worth $US100 million annually.

While electronic locks are quicker and simpler to operate and more secure than their mechanical counterparts, re-programming them is often beyond the capabilities of people using them. Combinations are often left unchanged, leading to security exposures as staff leave.

"What we have done is to take all these problems off-site so that someone who does understand the locks controls them."

Globalock hopes to sell or lease 2000 units in its first year, mainly in Australia and the US. Mr Hodgson expects the hardware units to sell to end users for less than $750 while the cost of the management service will be negotiated on a customer by customer basis on flat or per-usage rates.

Globalock, which is privately held by four director-shareholders, employs five people at its Glenfield base and has formed a subsidiary company in the US.