The news that Baltimore Technologies' encryption and security software has been chosen by a leading international banking consortium for international roll-out may read as Greek to most people, but it is a big breakthrough for the company. Its share price rose 12 per cent on the day the deal was announced and has made further progress since. Industry observers estimate the deal could be worth at least $30 million (€29.48 million) to Baltimore.

While many might feel they missed the Baltimore boat when it was bought by Zergo Holdings last December - the share price increased 115 per cent in one day - it may still not be too late. The latest arrangement sees Baltimore's software being deployed in eight of the world's leading banks, including ABN-AMRO, Bank of America, Barclay's Bank, Chase Manhattan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

This will only serve to have a knock-on effect as smaller banks row in behind their larger counterparts, and Baltimore's public key infrastructure software is adopted as industry standard. Later on, commercial companies, and eventually individuals, will want to buy into the loop.

It's not security Baltimore is selling, it's insecurity. No company wants to admit they don't have e-commerce security, and with the head of steam Baltimore is building up in the US it's positioned nicely to cater to all insecurities.