Cork-based technology firm Ildβna Teoranta has developed a device that enables public bodies and companies to connect local networks securely and more speedily to the internet.

The firm's "band patrol" device is designed to offer a safe means of access to the internet to organisations that do not have dedicated IT staff.

Two former senior employees at 3Com and Apple computers, Mr Peter Cassidy and Mr Donal O'Liathain, recently developed the product and founded Ildβna.

The idea came out of a project that Mr Cassidy developed to protect pupils at his local school in Dunboyne, Co Meath, from inappropriate material on the Web.

The product enabled Gaelscoil Thulach na n╙g to let its pupils surf the Net unsupervised by giving access to only a specified number of educational websites.

It also reduced the phone bill by increasing the download speed and performance of the network, said Mr Seamus O'Torpaigh, deputy principal of the school.

Mr Cassidy said the product now included features that protected sensitive information by enhancing security and scanning the network for viruses.