Strikeforce Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:SFOR) Runs Up, More To Come

Back at the end of November 2016, we highlighted Strikeforce Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:SFOR) as a company to keep an eye on near term. Our basic thesis was as follows: that the cyber security industry is growing at a rapid rate, and that Strikeforce's suite of products offers an effective and viable solution to clients of all shapes and sizes working to protect their data.Further, that while the company has been around for many years, it's products have never been more in demand than they are likely to be across the coming 12 months. With data security and hacking two of the most hotly talked about topics in mainstream media both in the US and internationally right now, people are really starting to take stock of their technological vulnerabilities, and this is driving rapid market growth.Finally, we concluded that this should translate to some swift upside momentum for Strikeforce, as those factors mentioned above drive sales across its portfolio.At the then-time of writing, the company traded for around $0.005 a share. At the turn of the new year, this had dipped slightly to $0.004 a share. At last close, Strikeforce hit $0.007 a share – a close to 50% gain on the year to date open. That's a decent return for the period, but we think there's much more to come.Management presented at a healthcare data security conference last week, and the presentation (which we sat in on) essentially outlined the bull thesis for the stock, by way of introducing one of its leading products, Keystroke Guard.The product is designed to stop what's called keystroke logging. Those familiar with the space will likely already be aware of this concept, but for those that aren’t, it is basically the reading and recording of a user's keyboard strokes from a remote location, with the goal of using the log to access sensitive data in the future. Put simply, if a hacker can see what you typed, they know your password. Strikeforce has developed its product to counter this sort of hacking on desktop computers, but for us, more importantly, it also works on mobile devices – compatible with Android and iOS operating systems. According to the most recent data, 95% of Android financial applications have been cracked. 70% of financial iOS applications have been cracked. 90% of retail merchant and 90% of healthcare (of which 22% are FDA approved) android applications, the same. Keystroke Guard makes it pretty much impossible for these cracks to come through keystroke logging, which is reportedly the entrance method used in more than 60% of instances, and as such, we see considerable growth potential for this product near turn. It is not difficult to imagine a world in which anti keystroke logging software comes as standard on mobile devices and desktop computers alike. When this happens, very few companies have products as effective and all-encompassing as Strikeforce.That's not all, of course.The company has a host of catalysts throughout 2017 that should help bolster topline and – in turn – market capitalization. These include an aggressive marketing strategy for its portfolio of desktop security products through retailers like Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN); a number of large-scale enterprise contracts both already in place and pending; a new security product set for launch called CyGate (which we are going to take a closer look at as and when the product hits the shelves); some international patents in an application phase that should underpin a European expansion near-term; some federal contract bids that could result in a dramatic increase in topline before the end of 2017; and – as we have mentioned on a number of occasions in the past – some ongoing legal disputes that could result in considerable one-time payments and royalties (as we saw early last year with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)).­Cash could do with a top up to help the company fund its growth in the above-mentioned areas, with the latest reported on hand coming in at $271,000 (September 30). Dilution, then, is pretty likely near-term. The fact that its potential for growth outweighs the downside impact this dilution might have, however, for us, at least, warrants a strong upside bias.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on SFOR, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in SFOR and have not been compensated for this article.