Free online portal lets Internet users verify reputation information about themselves and those with whom they interact online

March 5, 2009

5 Min Read

PRESS RELEASE

PALM DESERT, CALIF. and ATLANTA (March 2, 2009)—Purewire, Inc., a SaaS-based secure Web gateway vendor that protects business and social interactions on the Web, today launched the availability of Purewire Trust, located at www.PurewireTrust.org, a free online portal where Internet users can go to verify reputation information about themselves and those with whom they interact online. With a single click, users can get a snapshot view of the complete Web security threat landscape to help establish trust, safety and transparency between users in online communication, collaboration and commerce. Purewire Trust makes its debut this week at DEMO 2009, in Palm Desert, California.

According to Internet World Stats, there are more than 200 million people online in North America alone, and more than half of the top 100 Web sites are driven by user-generated content. While many forums, retailers and other sites have generally deployed some type of rating system, until today, no single service existed that could collectively evaluate the reputations of people, places and things across the entire Web. Purewire Trust builds reputations that protect individuals in user-to-user relationships for communication (such as social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn), collaboration (such as virtual worlds like Second Life and applications such as Twitter) and commerce (such as classified sites, Craigslist and eBay).

"The Web has changed the way we all shop, collect information, communicate with friends and conduct business. The longevity of this model is dependent on these users trusting online interactions," said Dr. Paul Judge, co-founder and chief technology officer of Purewire. "The massive adoption of social networking and other Web 2.0 functionality have increased the inevitability and acceptance of our information being shared. At the same time, people are becoming savvier and are starting to understand that safe online practices include a host of best practices. This is part of the philosophy behind Purewire Trust " arming users with information to restore trust in online interactions."

"It is remarkable that we have such a vibrant community online, yet it lacks transparency," said Chris Shipley, executive producer for DEMO Conferences. "Purewire has taken a holistic approach to securing users online. With Purewire Trust, the company has the potential to build out multiple security applications, and also does the industry a service by providing Web users with a tool to foster and encourage transparency to take this exchange to the next level."

Everyday Uses for PurewireTrust.org Purewire Trust offers a one-stop shop for everyday consumers and business users to go to check the reputations of those people with whom they are interacting online.

"As an employer or parents seeking to hire a nanny or babysitter, you wouldn't hire someone you didn't know without reference checks. PurewireTrust.org can be thought of as an online reference check for the various people, sites, applications and such that you interact with online," continued Dr. Judge.

Sample uses include: People who want to reference their own reputations and verify that no malicious online activity is associated with their email addresses or identities Journalists or bloggers who want to confirm the reliability or trustworthiness of a source Parents who want to keep their children safe from online predators Buyers and sellers who want to engage in online financial transactions College admissions offices and HR departments who want to verify the reputation of potential applicants Credit agencies who want to correlate online activities with offline ones to make rating decisions How It Works Purewire Trust analyzes patterns and builds reputations for online identities. The free portal helps consumers embrace today's dynamic Web 2.0 environment and provides a forensic view for users to:

Verify user reputation information, port already-established reputation information and build a personal reputation quickly Maintain and promote their own reputations using electronic badges that point back to their Purewire Trust profile, to be embedded on auction sites, classified sites, and social network pages or distributed via email to help users claim their identity and credibility Provide feedback on other users based on positive or negative experiences Suggest corrections to their own information or add their community affiliations to help build the credibility of their profile Check dynamic Web site threat and reputation information on new URLs to help users stay safe even in the face of thousands of new sites popping up every day View information about Web 2.0 applications that are a blind spot for traditional signature-based anti-virus and object-based malware detection

Purewire is offering access to PurewireTrust.org free of charge as a contribution to the technology community in support of the company's mission to improve the online experience for both consumers and enterprises. PurewireTrust.org currently is in beta, and feedback is encouraged at [email protected]. New features and functionality will be added to the portal on a regular basis, and the content becomes richer as more people use it. Users should continue to check back frequently.

The Purewire Trust technology is integrated into the Purewire Web Security Service, which is deployed as SaaS-based secure Web gateway. Purewire inspects outbound Web traffic for safety and compliance, and analyzes Web site response traffic for malicious programs and untrustworthy users. The Purewire Web Security Service provides high performance processing of Web traffic to protect users browsing the Web regardless of location or device, including laptops and mobile devices.

About Purewire, Inc. Headquartered in Atlanta, Purewire secures business and social interactions on the Web. Founded by veteran security industry entrepreneurs, the company offers Web security-as-a-service to increase ROI and lower the total cost of security for businesses. Purewire is the only vendor that addresses the complete Web security threat landscape, providing unique algorithms and scalable services to protect users from malicious people, places and things on the Web. For additional information, please visit www.purewire.com.

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