In this newly created position at ValidSoft, Pratley will accelerate the company's rapidly expanding global presence, his aim is to position Valid as the industry standard for strong authentication.

"ValidSoft has unique and innovative two factor authentication solutions which are currently creating very substantial interest in the market. We have recently signed a global leading financial institution and this further cements our position as an exciting new player in the market. Valid provides significant protection against not only the more traditional attacks, but also the latest in session hijacking through its transaction integrity verification model," said Pat Carroll, CEO of ValidSoft.

"Ian has a distinguished track record of building sales teams and delivering exceptional results both in start ups and billion dollar corporates. We are confident that Ian will be a pivotal player in the ValidSoft team and enable us to reach our position as the market leading two factor authentication provider."

Pratley's previous role was as Business Unit Director of Financial Services for Sybase, where his division delivered annual growth of over 250%, he also sat on the UK and European Executive Boards. Pratley has some fifteen years experience in software and solutions sales and management, prior to this he served as an officer and pilot in the Royal Air Force.

"The ValidSoft opportunity literally jumped off the page for me," Pratley said. "Not only does our product deliver ground breaking security, it also does this at a fraction of the cost of more traditional methods. Banks also see this as a true business enabler, securely automating manual processes and delivering ROI in a matter of months."