About NetSTAR | Company History

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Company History

April 2001 Company establishment (Minamiyukigaya, Ota-ku, Tokyo)
September 2001 Start of provision of URL filtering products: engines and URL databases for InterSafe (Alps System Integration Co., Ltd.) and InterScan WebManager (Trend Micro Incorporated), along with LogLyzer access trend visualization software for both products
March 2002 Start of support of plug-in type Squid proxy software as URL filtering engine technology
September 2002 In the area of URL filtering engine technology, launch of coordinated support of major cache products using the ICAP protocol
December 2002 Adoption by major ISP trunk services of filtering products for which engines and URL databases are being provided
February 2003 Commercialization of access control technology on website side according to regional attributes of users in collaboration with Cyber Area Research Inc.
March 2003 Start of provision of URL databases for option software for SurfWatcher access analysis and monitoring tool (Hammock Corporation)
July 2003 Start of provision of URL databases and other technologies for Shun Word, a value added search service of Nifty Corp.
October 2003 Headquarters moved to 4-3-8 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
October 2003 Development of and start of provision of engines for InterSafe Personal, a filtering products for homes (Alps System Integration Co., Ltd.) and InterScan WebManager Home Edition (Trend Micro Incorporated)
December 2003 Development of Write Control function on filtering engines for the management of sending-type web browsing behaviors such as bulletin boards and webmail. Start of provision for major products.
July 2004 NetSTAR's URL databases acquire a top share of 30.5% of the Japan's URL filtering product market for FY2003 on a monetary base*
* 2004 Comprehensive Study of Network Security Business, Fuji Chimera Research Institute, Inc.
November 2004 Start of provision of URL database for ProxySG Appliance of Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (U.S.A.)
February 2005 Start of provision of URL databases for junk e-mail countermeasure for mobile phones. Used on SLIMIT-C filtering device made by NEC Corporation, adoption by Vodafone decided
March 2005 Additional development of URL filtering technology for client PCs for use in URL filtering products for companies, and start of provision for major products. Realization of browsing management for notebook PCs taken outside organizations.
March 2005 Start of provision of URL filtering technology for client PCs, for Asset View HYPER F , an IT asset management tool (Hammock Corporation)
April 2005 Announcement of Internet for All-GUI, a NetSTAR-brand URL filtering product supporting the use of the Internet by households. Start of provision of toolbar-type product as free preview version
June 2005 Start of provision of databases for URL filtering for NTT DoCoMo's Kid's i-mode
July 2005 Download sales and store sales of Internet for All-GUI Family Style, a URL filtering product for households, in partnership with CyberLink Transdigital Inc.
August 2005 Partnership between VarioSecure Networks Inc. and NetSTAR Inc. in the web security field
August 2005 Start of bundling of 90-day free trial of Internet for All-GUI in broadband routers made by NEC Access Technica Ltd.
August 2005 Holding of Internet introduction summer classes for children and parents
September 2005 Development of technology for blocking spam targeted at blogs
September 2005 Start of provision of URL databases for Web Usage Restriction Function of Vodafone (Softbank Mobile)
November 2005 Start of provision of 90-day free trial of Internet for All-GUI for I-O Data Device Inc. product users
December 2005 Start of download sales and store sales of Internet Harmful Site Block, a toolbar-type URL filtering product, in partnership with CyberLink Transdigital Inc.
December 2005 Start of sale of Blog Guard, a blog spam blocking product supporting Movable Type
March 2006 Standard adoption of toolbar-type URL filtering products by i-revo portal site for all its ISP service courses
June 2006 Start of provision of Internet Harmful Site Block Service for BB Routers realizing URL filtering on routers, in partnership with Corega K.K.
October 2006 Start of provision of Internet Harmful Site Block Service for BB Routers realizing URL filtering on routers, in partnership with NEC Access Technica Ltd.
November 2006 Adoption of NetSTAR's URL databases for junk e-mail countermeasures by NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
December 2006 Establishment of NetSTAR-operated Internet shop for the sale of broadband routers equipped with harmful site blocking service
January 2007 Adoption of NetSTAR URL databases for junk e-mail countermeasure products for PCs by SIELLA, Inc.

Company Establishment History

Alps System Integration Co., Ltd. (ALSI: Alps Electric Group), which in the second half of the 1990s boasted the top-class achievements for the development and sale of filtering software principally for the school and municipal markets, faced the problem of not being able to satisfy the specific needs of the Japanese market with overseas filtering products that had been localized, and began exploring the development of filtering software tailored for the domestic market.

On the other hand, Trend Micro Inc., a global leader in the field of virus countermeasures, planned to enter the contents security field in order to boost its competitiveness in the domestic security market.

In 2001, these two companies met and decided to establish NetSTAR, a new filtering company, by combining their respective stores of experience and technology. Since then, NetSTAR, along with building up capabilities for URL database collection and sorting to meet the needs of the domestic filtering market, has been promoting research and development for filtering products. As a result, the company has become a leader in the Japanese market with high-quality URL databases and advanced filtering engines.

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