In 1999, Q technology was developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to analyze unstructured documents to assure that secret nulcear weapons data was not inadvertently released. This program, called the "Ferret", assists expert reviewers to spot sensitive information, including information that might enable an adversary to infer protected design data, in text documents such as reports, news releases, web pages, and financial statements. Its capabilities go far beyond keyword or key phrase searches or even taxonomies because it can detect contexts that imply secret information.

This technology was patented and exclusively licensed to AreteQ, Inc. Under the terms of the license agreement, the Y-12 National Security Complex is a joint-venture partner with AreteQ. This collaborative partnership offers the innovation and responsiveness of an entrepreneurial company while providing the resources and experience of a major international corporation. This arrangement permits AreteQ to utilize the resources and expertise of a large government contractor and to guarantee customers that a wide variety of programming experts are available to complete work on time.

AreteQ (pronounced air-ray-tech) is a small business incorporated under the laws of the State of Tennessee.