Sectra's history
Sectra carried out its first consulting assignment in the late 1970s. A few years later, the company recruited additional joint owners with grand visions for Sectra’s future. This marked the start of the company’s expansion and development into a well-established brand in the area of information security and medical IT.
Sectra has been a market leader in crypto equipment for the Swedish Defence Forces since the 1990s, and the company’s security products are currently used by government authorities and defense departments in most EU member states. These are some of the milestones throughout the 40 years we have been working for a more stable and secure society.
Data security became Sectra’s first niche area in 1978, when a team of researchers from the Institute of Technology at Linköping University, Sweden, were presented with the task of creating a security solution for banks. To take on the assignment, they formed the company Sectra – SECure TRAnsmission. Sectra's ties with the research community remain strong and our history is marked by innovation and business development that create significant customer value.
Sectra was early in the forefront of the fight against cybercrime. In 1986, optimistic journalists reported that Sectra had discovered a vaccine for computer viruses in the form of a new product able to detect access violations in file systems.
In the mid-1980s, Sectra landed its first big order for crypto hardware for the Swedish Defense Forces.
Sectra Tiger was approved for the classification level HEMLIG/SECRET and enabled the Swedish Defense Forces to become the first in the world with eavesdrop-protected mobile telephone communications for national secrets.
Our international journey included plans to become a listed company, and a listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange was carried out in 1999. The listing enabled strategic acquisitions and financing of our continued expansion.
Sectra started looking into the smartphone platform in 2007. Several platforms were evaluated and many lessons were learned. In 2011, the first eavesdrop-secure smartphone was released under the brand Panthon.
With the addition of Sectra Tiger/R, the Sectra Tiger secure mobile telephony system was expanded to also include solutions and services for secure mobile telephony on the RESTRICTED security level, from the previously higher SECRET security level, allowing organizations to have users in various security classes, depending on the personal security requirement, in the same system, in which everyone will be able to communicate with everyone else.
In a strategic technical partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sectra integrates the Samsung KNOX™ platform in Sectra’s solution for secure smartphone communication, resulting in the next-generation secure smartphone, Sectra Tiger/R and paving the way to Sectra's mobile workplace offering of tablets and smartphones.
With the launch of Sectra's services for security and risk management in Critical Infrastructure, a strategic partnership with a Swedish energy company was also entered. The partnership encompasses the development and testing of a monitoring service for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems in energy distribution.
Sectra Tiger/R was approved by the European Union for the communication of information at the RESTRICTED security level (RESTREINT UE/EU RESTRICTED). The device provides EU agency officials with a modern mobile platform that gives them easy and secure access to highly confidential information when needed.
The European External Action Service, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission signed a new framework agreement for the approved mobile encryption system, Sectra Tiger. The framework agreement supports EU organizations to communicate securely and efficiently among themselves and with EU member states, without risking the confidentiality of their information.
Sectra received several orders from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV). The orders covered the further development of existing systems and solutions for secure communication. Sectra has been working together with the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration since 1987, and during this partnership has developed and delivered products for secure communication. The continued collaboration will strengthen communications protection capacity of the Swedish military and civil defense agencies.
The Dutch national communication security authority, NLNCSA, approved Sectra's mobile VPN for use up to and including the RESTRICTED security level. The solution grants civil authorities, government officials and critical infrastructure operators remote access to internal networks without risking information leaks. The users can thus access the same information and applications as they would from their regular workplace, regardless of where they are working from.
The EU council approved the latest version of the eavesdrop-proof mobile phone Sectra Tiger/S 7401 LTE. The latest version includes features such as improved file transfer and chat as well as support for all fixed and mobile 4G networks within Europe. These new features provide the user with improved availability, while also enhancing the user experience and areas of application.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense has been using Sectra’s solutions for secure communications since 2004. The 5-year contract contains the approved mobile encryption system Sectra Tiger/S and its infrastructure. The solution enables users to exchange classified information up to the classification level SECRET.
A swedish energy company selects Sectra’s service to protect critical systems against unauthorized access. The service helps customers detect risks and vulnerabilities before they affect daily operations.
NATO approves the most recent version of Sectra Tiger/S. The product includes new functions that help officials exchange information even more securely and efficiently.
