Hitachi Software Engineering Co. Ltd. (HitachiSoft) and KDDI Network & Solutions Inc. (KNSL) have agreed to collaborate on the overseas marketing of HitachiSoft's HIBUN series of information security management systems in North America, Europe and Asia, and will be releasing English-language versions effectively this month.

The implementation of Japan's Personal Information Protection Law has spurred the introduction of measures to enhance information security management in Japan and demand for security measures is growing among overseas branches and subsidiaries. Following this demand, KNSL and HitachiSoft will release the HIBUN series, already with 1,700 corporate users and 1.5 million licenses in Japan as of July 31, 2005, overseas.

HitachiSoft has developed English-language versions of three products in its HIBUN range of information security management solutions - HIBUN AE Information Cypher, which encrypts drives, media and files, HIBUN AE Information Fortress, which controls transfer to external media and printing, and HIBUN AE Server, which provides logging and user control functions - to be released in November. As primary agent, KNSL will provide support services in Japanese and English to overseas sales companies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The products will be marketed by a US subsidiary of KDDI Corporation, while HitachiSoft's US subsidiary Hitachi Software Engineering America, headquartered in San Francisco, will handle sales, implementation and configuration and SE support services to customers.

The new solutions will initially be marketed from bases in the United States, Europe and Asia, targeting local subsidiaries of Japanese companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia,, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, while marketing activities will gradually be expanded. From September, promotional activities such as seminars will be conducted overseas, and the products will go on sale at promotional prices. KNSL and HitachiSoft aim to sell 200,000 licenses over a three-year period.