PCTEL Secure files three patents on mobile device and industrial wireless security

BLOOMINGDALE, USA: PCTEL Inc., a leader in antenna and scanning receiver solutions, announced that its joint venture, PCTEL Secure LLC, had filed three patent applications describing inventions that ensure the security of mobile devices and that also protect the integrity of industrial wireless networks.

These inventions relate to PCTEL Secure’s ProsettaCore and a behavioral approach to securing mobile devices and fixed networks. Rather than identifying and categorizing various threats and viruses, ProsettaCore establishes a set of policies that define acceptable behavior and then monitors devices for aberrations.

PCTEL Secure has focused its efforts on Android-based devices but the invention applies to a variety of systems, including industrial wireless or SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) networks.

The three patents are "Systems and Methods for Enhanced Security in Wireless Communication" (serial no. 13/323,340); "Systems and Methods for Providing a Computing Device having a Secure Operating System Kernel" (serial no. 13/315,531), and Enhanced Security SCADA Systems and Method (serial no. 13/350,599). Two of the patents were filed in 2011 under the USPTO’s new, expedited process and the third was filed on January 13, 2012.

Separately, PCTEL announced that it negotiated a mechanism to accelerate the acquisition of PCTEL Secure. Additionally, the amended agreement lowers the overall cost of the acquisition and eliminates the right of PCTEL’s joint venture partner to participate in the proceeds from a future sale of PCTEL Secure. Currently, PCTEL owns 51 percent of PCTEL Secure.

“We have growing confidence in our ability to deliver a meaningful security solution to certain vertical markets,” said Marty Singer, PCTEL’s chairman and CEO. “We are pleased with our progress in protecting our inventions and last year’s delivery of a prototype. Now, we are fully engaged in delivering a commercial product and in the expansion of our business development efforts.”

PCTEL launched its security initiatives in early 2011. During that period, the company - through its joint venture – signed a supply agreement with an Android smart phone manufacturer, delivered and implemented threats to highlight the vulnerability of smart phones to exploits and threats, and, most importantly, designed and developed a prototype of its ProsettaCore software. Both PCTEL and PCTEL Secure have demonstrated the ProsettaCore prototype to several customers.