Litronic Hopes Deal Will Get It Into Consumer Market

Litronic Inc., an Irvine Internet security company, is expected to announce a sales agreement today with an Aliso Viejo start-up that will push the smart-card maker into the consumer market.

The deal with NetCity.com Inc., an online e-commerce and community site, calls for Litronic to supply 100,000 smart-card readers for consumers, the cards and the software to run the system.

Financial details were not disclosed Thursday. But Litronic officials said the transaction, which closed Monday, is one of the largest the company has ever signed.

“Normally, we deal with Fortune 500 companies who want a secure, e-commerce solution,” said Bill Holmes, Litronic’s vice president of marketing. “This is helping us get into a whole new arena.”

NetCity.com, which expects to launch its site in March, said it will roll out Litronic’s smart-card readers free to its subscribers to “handle different e-commerce and storage applications,” said Sheri Brooks, the start-up’s chief technology officer.

Litronic makes products to help ensure the privacy and authenticity of online communications.