BOSSES concerned that their employees are visiting dodgy websites or downloading risky software may have an answer in the form of Niometrics.

The networking and security firm has developed a system that allows companies to both detect threats on their network systems and block harmful programs or applications.

Co-founder Kostas Anagnostakis, a German citizen with a PhD in computer science, said there are hundreds of applications that can harm a company's network system.

These include social networking, file-sharing, gaming and instant messaging sites - all making it difficult to separate safe and reliable applications from those that are risky and unauthorised.

'Sometimes employees like to install software that they think is cute, but it is actually something very harmful,' said Dr Anagnostakis, 35.

The system, called NWOW, can detect more than 4,000 applications, a far cry from when it was developed a few years ago, when only five applications could be pinpointed.

Dr Anagnostakis and his co-founder, electrical engineer Kirk Khu, 26, were analysing computer traffic when they were researchers at the Institute for Infocomm Research at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

Their work focused on analysing traffic for well-known 'bad' applications, such as file-sharing systems that can overload networks.

With the support of A*Star's strategic marketing and commercialisation arm, Exploit Technologies, they expanded their scope to study methods used to analyse previously unknown traffic.

They also started to identify features that could be used as part of a detection system.

The result was NWOW, a system that can detect policy violations and perform analyses for potential threats. This enables firms to better audit and control their networks.

Dr Anagnostakis and Mr Khu spun off from A*Star to set up Niometrics in May last year.

While the transition from lab to market was not easy, they are thankful for A*Star's support.

'When you're doing research, you care about solving problems. You're in a protected environment. You don't have to worry about customers,' said Dr Anagnostakis.

The firm also received a grant from Spring Singapore, which helped it gain a stronger footing in the market.

Dr Anagnostakis said being attached to big names such as A*Star and Spring allowed Niometrics to recruit companies to test NWOW.

Niometrics has clocked up more than 100,000 uninterrupted hours of testing on 15 organisations in Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Europe.

The company employs eight staff, most of whom are involved in software development.

According to Dr Anagnostakis, a key strength of NWOW is the large number of applications it can detect, compared with similar products on the market. This means it is better able to detect those applications that may harm companies' network systems.

Most clients, such as electronics services provider Venture Corporation, see NWOW as a diagnostic tool not just to protect an internal network but also to monitor productivity.

'With just one look, it gives us a good overview of Internet usage, in terms of the percentage of downloads, whether it's work-related or not,' said Venture's IT infrastructure manager Edi Suyento.

'But what is more important is that with that one view, we can tell if certain Internet traffic is suspicious or not... for example, zoom in and identify the threat, where it is coming from, and where it is going to within our network.'

Niometrics is already a profitable firm, but its sales are mainly made through word-of-mouth recommendations. Its founders are currently in talks with resellers to bring NWOW overseas.

They also have plans to grow the firm by recruiting more engineers.

'We're still primarily a technology-oriented company,' said Dr Anagnostakis. 'The plan is to not just stay in Singapore. We're going to set up a US office, set up operations in the region.'

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'We're still primarily a technology-oriented company. Theplan is to not just stay in Singapore. We're going to set up a US office, set up operations in the region.'

Niometrics co-founder Kostas Anagnostakis