Tel Aviv, ISRAEL — (press release) — M-Systems today announced the acquisition of Fortress U&T Ltd., a privately held, Israel-based data security company, for approximately $8 million in an all cash deal. As part of this deal, Fortress' 25 employees, including 19 research and development engineers, will join M-Systems. This world-class team of data security technology experts skilled in hardware, software and ASIC design will work within M-Systems to develop new flash disk security features. M-Systems also assumes ownership of 12 patents and patent applications relating to implementation of secured encryption, data protection, secure smart card technology and secure payment schemes.

Founded in 1990, Fortress has produced cutting-edge cryptographic implementation and data integrity on silicon and firmware and software developments in the area of data protection. The company has provided advanced security technology to the world's crypto smart card industry leaders. The security technology acquired with this acquisition will be used as the basis for a new generation of secure, flash-based storage products from M-Systems, as well as in future upgrades to the popular DiskOnChip family of products, the leading flash-based local storage device for embedded systems and Internet appliances. These new flash disk products will then be used as the core security building blocks to enable high performance, safe, confidential e-commerce in a variety of applications.

“With the rise of e-commerce and increasing connectivity, crypto protection and confidentiality are becoming an important part of every computing device,” said Dov Moran, president and CEO, M-Systems. “The technology, expertise and wealth of intellectual property that we have gained in this deal will allow us to provide breakthrough security features that will be mandatory in future data storage products. By including these features right in the flash disk, we will provide a level of security not yet seen in the flash disk industry.”

 
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