Merlin Invests in Wickr to Deliver Secure Communications to Federal Agencies and Highly-Regulated Industries
Partnership will accelerate development and adoption of products and services that protect critical communications and sensitive information
Washington DC –RSA Federal Summit, March 26, 2019– Merlin International, Inc.,a trusted technology provider delivering innovative cybersecurity solutions for highly-regulated industries,today announced a major investment in Wickr Inc.,the only communications platform designed to resist state-level hacking while offering enterprise-grade management and compliance capabilities.The partnership will enable Wickr to leverage Merlin’s experience and resources in bringing cybersecurity technologies to federal agencies and regulated industries.
Wickr, which allows users to securely share text and files, as well as hold secure audio and video conferencing on mobile and desktop platforms, was recently cited in The Forrester New Wave: Secure Communications, Q4 2018report as the leader in the secure communications space. As one of the world’s only end-to-end, secure communications platforms designed to protect sensitive information at all stages of transit, Wickr not only secures messages, but is configured to enable government agencies to fully comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
“Communication security has become critical for every business and industry, and the federal government is no exception,” said Seth Spergel, Merlin VP of Emerging Technology. “At Merlin, we have been serving government agencies and regulated industries for over 20 years. This new partnership with Wickr will allow us to quickly and easily add their secure tools into our portfolio of cybersecurity solutions and allow organizations to easily collaborate while staying on the right side of data-protection policies.”
Thanks to the partnership with Merlin, federal IT teams will soon be able to quickly and easily deploy and integrate Wickr technologies across their entire enterprise using standard tools such as LDAP, Single Sign-on, Mobile Device Management and others, to securely orchestrate workflows into a single source and modernize communications in house and out to the field. All messaging will be encrypted and in full compliance with federal data protection regulations as well as National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) best practice guidelines.
In addition to secure messaging transport, robust user verification is built into the platform to ensure that government teams are only sharing information with vetted and trusted parties, both inside and outside of government. The use of Wickr technologies provided by Merlin will thus enable agencies to begin compliance with the recently released NIST Special Publication 800-177 (Revision 1) which details how government can begin to secure their communications infrastructure.
“Wickr puts government agencies in full control of any and all data shared through the service and ensures that it remains protected at all times while in transit and at rest,” said Joel Wallenstrom, Wickr CEO. “Full end-to-end encryption is applied to all data streams including messages, files and calls, guaranteeing that Wickr never has access to that information, and can thus serve as a secure black box for all content. Files will never touch transport servers unencrypted and are never stored on Wickr infrastructure.”
With the new partnership agreement in place between Merlin and Wickr, both companies will now concentrate on helping to create and secure end-to-end encrypted infrastructures for federal agencies and other organizations operating in heavily regulated environments.
Wickr and Merlin have also combined to create a series of full day workshops during which industry experts use Wickr’s robust, REST-based APIs to develop custom integrations that extend the functionality of the Wickr platform. If you’d like to join an upcoming work shop contact info@merlin-intl.com.
About Merlin International
Merlin International invests in emerging technologies to create enterprise ready products that protect government and commercial organizations. Merlin offers a broad portfolio of solutions that secure the enterprise from endpoints to networks, from governance to risk management, from infrastructure to information. Combining solutions with deep industry expertise and experience, Merlin delivers the cybersecurity solutions that organizations need to protect their most critical business assets while furthering their mission.
Media Contact: marketing@merlin-intl.com
About Wickr
Wickr’s mission is to secure the world’s most critical communications. Wickr provides the highest standard of encryption trusted by millions worldwide. In the workplace and out in the field, Wickr enables end users to communicate securely and protect their privacy while providing IT organizations the administrative controls needed to deploy at scale and comply with industry standards. Find out more at wickr.com
Media Contact: press@wickr.com
