INCA Internet

INCA Internet Corporation, also known through its nProtect product family, is a South Korean information-security software company founded in January 2000 by Young Heum Joo. The company is headquartered in Seoul and develops security products for financial institutions, electronic-commerce operators, public organizations, enterprises, online-game publishers, and individual internet users. The company entered the market during the expansion of online banking and electronic commerce in South Korea. Its early focus was the delivery of security through an application-service-provider model, allowing customers to use browser- and internet-delivered security services rather than deploying every capability as a separately managed desktop product. Its nProtect Netizen product was described as an early real-time client-PC information-security service and became a foundation for the company’s financial and online-transaction business. INCA Internet’s portfolio spans several security categories. nProtect Netizen, nProtect Personal, and nProtect KeyCrypt were designed for online banking, electronic commerce, and transaction protection. nProtect Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware products targeted viruses, spyware, hacking tools, and related malware. nProtect Enterprise provided centralized PC-security and firewall capabilities for corporations, public institutions, research organizations, and educational institutions. nProtect WebScan addressed web-application vulnerability assessment, including checks associated with OWASP-recommended categories. nProtect GameGuard became the company’s best-known international product in the online-games sector, supplying anti-cheat and game-protection functions to publishers and portal operators. The company’s market model has historically emphasized software as a service and business-to-business or business-to-business-to-consumer delivery. Its products have been used by financial and public-sector organizations in South Korea and Japan, by online-game companies, and by customers in additional international markets. Reference material associated with the company describes a client base spanning 23 countries and users in more than 170 countries, although the applicable date for those figures is not specified here. The same material reports substantial historical positions in Korean financial-institution security and game-portal security; because no date is provided, these figures should be treated as historical claims rather than current market measurements. INCA Internet moved to Seoul’s Guro Digital Complex in December 2005. The location placed the company within a major Korean information-technology and knowledge-industry cluster. The company has also been associated with Korean technology recognition, including the IR52 Jang Yeong-sil Award, ISO 9000 certification through TUViT, and inclusion in the Deloitte Technology Fast500 Asia Pacific 2007 list. Its principal positioning is that of a specialist security-technology provider serving institutional and platform customers, rather than a broad consumer electronics or general software brand. The business combines transaction security, endpoint and malware protection, enterprise controls, web-security testing, and online-game anti-cheat technology. nProtect GameGuard has provided international visibility, while the company’s financial and enterprise-security offerings have supported its domestic institutional presence. Publicly available reference material does not establish a current ownership structure, stock ticker, website, or detailed recent operating results, so those fields remain unspecified.

INCA Internet was established in South Korea on January 31, 2000, by Young Heum Joo, who is identified in reference material as the company’s founder, chief executive officer, and president. It entered the information-security market at a time when Korean financial services, electronic commerce, and online entertainment were rapidly moving onto the internet. Rather than concentrating only on packaged desktop antivirus software, the company developed services that could be supplied over the internet and integrated into customer-facing transaction environments. One of the company’s early technology milestones was nProtect Netizen, described as an early real-time client-PC information-security service and associated with a global patent. This product helped establish the company’s application-service-provider approach to security. Under that model, financial institutions and other online businesses could provide security functions to their users through an online service, with INCA Internet supporting stabilization, updates, and customer-specific configurations. The business subsequently expanded across several related areas. Its online PC-security products addressed banking, electronic commerce, and other transactions. Its anti-virus and anti-spyware products targeted consumers and end users, while nProtect Enterprise was designed to unify security administration for corporations, public institutions, research facilities, and schools. The company also developed nProtect WebScan for testing web applications and identifying vulnerabilities, with functionality associated with OWASP categories and simulated attack analysis. Online games became another important area of activity. nProtect GameGuard was developed as a security and anti-cheat system for online-game companies and game portals. It was designed to monitor processes and memory, identify or block software regarded as cheating or harmful, restrict selected system calls, and update itself as threats changed. GameGuard was bundled or deployed with a number of multiplayer games, giving INCA Internet an international presence among game publishers and players. Its deep system access also produced controversy, with critics characterizing parts of its behavior as rootkit-like and objecting to installation or operation without clear user authorization. The available reference does not provide a definitive dated resolution to those criticisms. By the mid-2000s, INCA Internet had developed a presence in South Korean and Japanese financial and electronic-commerce security. Reference material identifies Japanese financial and card-sector users among the organizations associated with its products, while also describing activity in China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and other markets. It reports that the company served clients in 23 countries and users in more than 170 countries, but does not specify the reporting date for those figures. It also makes historical claims of more than 70 percent share of information-security services for Korean financial institutions and more than 90 percent of game-portal security. These figures are retained as historical descriptions only, not as current verified market statistics. In December 2005, the company relocated to Guro Digital Complex in Seoul. The district is a major Korean information-technology and knowledge-industry cluster, and the move was described as supporting contact, information exchange, and partnerships with neighboring technology companies. INCA Internet later received recognition connected with Korean industrial technology, including the IR52 Jang Yeong-sil Award. It also obtained ISO 9000 certification through TUViT, an IT certification organization associated with the German RWTUV group. Reference material further identifies INCA Internet as the only South Korean information-security company included in the Deloitte Technology Fast500 Asia Pacific 2007. The company is described as a public company limited by shares, with Young Heum Joo identified as the largest shareholder in the referenced company overview and JAIC of Japan and MeesPierson of the Netherlands listed among other shareholders. This description does not establish that the company was publicly listed on a stock exchange, and no ticker is supplied. Current ownership, financial performance, corporate structure, and a current official website are not established by the available material. Its documented business identity remains that of a South Korean security-software company whose nProtect portfolio serves financial, enterprise, government, consumer, web, and online-game use cases.

1. 2007Listed in Deloitte Technology Fast500 Asia Pacific

   Reference material identifies INCA Internet as the only South Korean information-security company included in the Deloitte Technology Fast500 Asia Pacific 2007.

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2. 2005Relocation to Guro Digital Complex

   INCA Internet moved to Seoul’s Guro Digital Complex in December 2005, placing its operations within a major Korean technology and knowledge-industry cluster.

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3. 2000INCA Internet founded

   Young Heum Joo founded INCA Internet on January 31, 2000, establishing the company as a South Korean information-security software provider.

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4. 2000nProtect Netizen enters the market

   The company introduced nProtect Netizen, an online real-time client-PC security service associated with an international patent and its early application-service-provider model.

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A specialist information-security provider focused on online transactions, financial institutions, enterprises, public organizations, web applications, and online-game platforms. Its nProtect portfolio is positioned around SaaS delivery, institutional security integration, endpoint protection, and game anti-cheat capabilities.

• nProtect GameGuardOnline-game security and anti-cheat

  nProtect GameGuard is a security system supplied to online-game companies and portal operators. It is designed to detect or block cheating tools, hacking activity, account theft, malicious software, and selected forms of unauthorized process or memory manipulation. Its documented functions include monitoring memory and processes, restricting selected DirectX and Windows API calls, terminating software classified as harmful or prohibited, and updating its protections as threats evolve. The product has been deployed with multiple multiplayer games and became INCA Internet’s most internationally visible offering. Its system-level access has also generated controversy among users and security commentators.

• nProtect NetizenOnline transaction and PC security2000

  nProtect Netizen is an application-service-provider security product for online banking, electronic commerce, and related transactions. It was described as an early real-time client-PC information-security service and helped establish INCA Internet’s internet-delivered security model. The service could be adapted for institutional customers and used in business-to-business, business-to-consumer, or combined delivery models.

• nProtect PersonalConsumer and transaction security

  nProtect Personal is part of the company’s PC-security portfolio for online transactions and individual users. Reference material places it alongside nProtect Netizen and nProtect KeyCrypt in services designed to support internet banking, electronic commerce, and other protected online activities, with ongoing stabilization and customer-specific configuration capabilities.

• nProtect KeyCryptOnline transaction security

  nProtect KeyCrypt is identified as an online PC-security offering for banking, electronic commerce, and transaction environments. Its documented role is to form part of the protection layer used by institutional and online-business customers, within INCA Internet’s broader SaaS-oriented security portfolio.

• nProtect Anti-Virus and Anti-SpywareEndpoint and malware protection

  This product family provides real-time protection against viruses, spyware, hacking tools, and other malware. The documented portfolio also includes a GameGuard Personal 2007 product with PC optimization, game-account protection, and game-mode functions. Related file-management capabilities included encryption, decryption, and secure deletion.

• nProtect EnterpriseEnterprise security

  nProtect Enterprise is a unified security solution for corporations, public institutions, research organizations, and educational institutions. It is described as using PC-firewall technology and providing centralized administrative functions for security and IT managers. Its intended purpose includes protecting information assets and reducing the risk of sensitive or confidential information leakage across organizational endpoints.

• nProtect WebScanWeb-application security testing

  nProtect WebScan assesses web applications and internet-facing services for security weaknesses. Its documented scope includes checks associated with OWASP’s recommended inspection categories, additional checks for emerging or popular attacks, multi-threaded scanning, and simulated-hacking functionality intended to help security teams understand and remediate discovered vulnerabilities.

• Controversy over nProtect GameGuard’s system-level accessControversy

  nProtect GameGuard has been criticized because of its deep access to a user’s system. Reference material characterizes it as a rootkit and states that it was installed without user authorization. The available source does not provide a specific date, court judgment, regulator decision, or confirmed remediation outcome.

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1. INCA Internet