I’m sure that most of you are familiar with the name of the company that created the first public version of an in-house IT security system called drexel/security. This system was used for a number of years in the early nineties. The original system was based on software from an off-the-shelf computer, but they also implemented a number of proprietary systems that are currently being used in their current version.
In early 2009 the company was bought by a private equity firm, and then the first drexel security system came out. The system consisted of a number of proprietary components, including a proprietary network-addressable storage system, an end-user control panel, and a number of proprietary tools for managing the security of networked computers. The system was designed to support multiple security protocols and was also capable of managing multiple networked computers.
What’s interesting is that drexel was actually the first real security systems to hit the market. That’s more than 10 years ago, so we thought that maybe we could get a peek at their first product, but we couldn’t. The only company that has access to the company’s product code is the company itself, but they only have access to the hardware.
In the end, drexel was more about the hardware than the software. Sure, they made a big deal about having a license to use the code, but it seems there was never any real access to the product itself. The product was never released to the public, and we dont know what would have happened if it was.
While drexel has a license to use the tech, the company never released it to the public. As a result, the public is not allowed to get any idea of what the product is or where it came from.
As a result, drexel has been largely useless as a security company. The only real security they got was from a small group of hobbyists and hackers.
Another reason drexel has been useless is because the tech in the product never actually existed. If it did, it could have been a huge boon for the security industry. Imagine the number of people who could have had a “computer” on the moon, where they could have just logged on to the internet and hacked into things without having to worry about firewalls or passwords.
Drexel really didn’t have anything to do with security. The company started as a computer repair shop and then moved into networking. But the company’s core business was making networking products, from ethernet connections to routers, firewalls, and switches. And though it has its own security-related products, they were never really useful. Drexel has mostly been a company that made networking products.
In 2013 Drexel was acquired by Cisco Systems. Cisco acquired Drexel again in 2014 and gave the company to Microsoft. Microsoft took over the networking division completely and Drexel is now a subsidiary of Microsoft. Drexel is the company that makes the software that makes networking devices.
With Microsoft now working more on networking than on software, Cisco will benefit in the long run. Cisco has been a major force in the networking industry, making hardware and software innovations that have made networking the industry leader. In the future that will no longer be the case. Cisco will continue to make networking technology, but it will most likely have a new focus.