At a moment when there's a daily debate about cybersecurity and the way that the Internet leaves data exposed, Sterling, VA-based IDVector is offering a hardware solution to keeping information private. The unassuming white rectangle encrypts data transmitted over the Internet, automatically sending it though the company's own anonymizing Virtual Private Network.
"Edward Snowden's revelations [about online surveillance programs] made me think more deeply than I had before about the Internet and the environment we were living in," IDVector co-founder Benjamin Baumgartner told DC Inno in an interview. "The Internet was built to share data. Security wasn't built into it and privacy certainly wasn't built into it."
"The Internet was built to share data. Security wasn't built into it and privacy certainly wasn't built into it."
Baumgartner and co-founder Andrew Boyce both spent years working as defense contractors, building digital security systems. They brought their ideas into Sterling cybersecurity startup incubator Kyrus Tech. IDVector continues to operate out of incubator, which is also providing some funding, though IDVector couldn't say how much exactly.
"Kyrus made sure we have enough money get the tech out of the door and sustain it," Boyce told DC Inno. "I didn't join Kyrus for the purpose of launching IDVector but we have a shared vision for a scalable privacy platform."
The issue is that anonymity is hard to get when you use open Internet. When you connect to the Internet through a coffeeshop or hotel, there are a lot of vulnerabilities that private and secure networks block out. With the hardware, or the iOS app IDVector built, potential hackers can't get a look at what you're doing.
"Ubiquitous free Internet has become the norm," Baumgartner said. "There's a need for better protection when you use it."
"We're out to provide that privacy and security and some level of anonymity," Boyce said.
