Certicom and Funk Software Team Up To Set New Standard for WLAN Security.Business Editors & High Tech Writers HAYWARD, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Feb. 7, 2002 Companies Collaborate on Innovative 802.1x Security Protocol EAP-TTLS See EAP. ; Certicom's Trustpoint to Provide Firm PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) A framework for creating a secure method for exchanging information based on public key cryptography. The foundation of a PKI is the certificate authority (CA), which issues digital certificates that authenticate the identity of Foundation for Funk Software's RADIUS/AAA Solutions Certicom, (Nasdaq:CERT)(TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :CIC CIC circulating immune complexes. CIC Circulating immune complexes. See Immune complexes. .), a leading provider of mobile e-business security, and Funk Software, the leading commercial developer of RADIUS/AAA solutions, today announced a technical collaboration on the innovative EAP-TTLS 802.1x security protocol which provides unsurpassed security for WLAN See wireless LAN. WLAN - wireless local area network connectivity, while permitting easy WLAN deployment across the enterprise. Funk Software's Odyssey(TM) is the first commercial implementation of EAP-TTLS. EAP-TTLS is an IETF See Internet Engineering Task Force. IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force draft jointly authored by Funk Software and Certicom, and is a working document of the PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) The most popular method for transporting IP packets over a serial link between the user and the ISP. Developed in 1994 by the IETF and superseding the SLIP protocol, PPP establishes the session between the user's computer and the ISP using Extensions group. The purpose of the protocol is to allow users to be authenticated onto WLANs with their existing password credentials, and, using strong public/private key cryptography See public key cryptography. , to protect those password credentials against eavesdropping Secretly gaining unauthorized access to confidential communications. Examples include listening to radio transmissions or using laser interferometers to reconstitute conversations by reflecting laser beams off windows that are vibrating in synchrony to the sound in the room. and other attacks that are suddenly made possible by the advent of wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. . The result is a protocol that is equal in security to the 802.1x protocol EAP-TLS See EAP. (included in Microsoft's Windows XP), that can easily be utilized by a single user from any machine, and that is compatible with existing authentication databases and infrastructure, thus putting secure WLAN authentication within any organization's reach. "We are committed to developing and introducing secure WLAN solutions that network managers will actually be willing to deploy," said Paul Funk, president of Funk Software and co-inventor of EAP-TTLS. "EAP-TTLS is the basis of these solutions, and our technical collaboration with Certicom on the protocol has positioned us well to deliver user-friendly, end-to-end security in Odyssey, and to advance the state-of-the-art in WLAN security management." "The greatest challenges for enterprises that want to implement wireless connectivity are security and manageability," said Simon Blake Wilson, business development director for Certicom and co-inventor of EAP-TTLS. "Certicom and Funk Software developed EAP-TTLS to eliminate these challenges with secure connections that are easy for both administrators and end users." In addition, Funk Software selected Certicom's Trustpoint product to build advanced security and simplified management capability into its leading RADIUS/AAA solutions. TrustPoint will provide the cryptographic underpinnings for implementing EAP-TTLS and other security standards in its market-leading RADIUS/AAA solutions; the first such implementation will be in Steel-Belted Radius(R)/Service Provider Edition running on the Solaris platform. Trustpoint is a comprehensive suite of PKI products that allows today's enterprises to build wireless certificate capabilities to enable secure communication and digital signatures over cellular, wireless LAN, and other networks via personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and pagers. Certicom's security solutions are tailored to the unique requirements of mobile environments, which, unlike desktop-only solutions, require a very compact code size due to bandwidth limitations and memory and processor requirements of mobile devices. About Certicom Certicom is a leading provider of information security software and services, specializing in solutions for mobile e-business. The company's products and services are specifically designed to address the challenges imposed by a wireless data environment. Certicom's solutions incorporate its efficient encryption technology and are based on industry standards for information security that utilize public key cryptography An encryption method that uses a two-part key: a public key and a private key. To send an encrypted message to someone, you use the recipient's public key, which can be sent to you via regular e-mail or made available on any public Web site or venue. . Certicom's products are currently licensed to more than 200 customers including Cisco Systems, Inc., Handspring Inc., Motorola, Inc., Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Inc., Palm, Inc., QUALCOMM, Inc., Research In Motion Ltd. and Sony International (Europe) GmbH. Certicom's headquarters and worldwide sales and marketing operations are based in the Silicon Valley in Hayward. For more information, visit Certicom's Web site at http://www.certicom.com. About Funk Software Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Funk Software is the leading provider of commercial AAA AAA: see American Automobile Association. (Triple A) A common single-cell battery used in a myriad of electronic devices of all variety. Like its double A (AA) cousin, it provides 1.5 volts of DC power. When used in series, the voltage is multiplied. solutions for wireless operator, service provider, and enterprise networks. In use on thousands of public and private networks worldwide, the Steel-Belted Radius family of products delivers a AAA solution on the scale required by the largest carriers and service providers, and scales easily to meet the centralized remote and WLAN authentication needs of the enterprise. The Steel-Belted Radius family of RADIUS/AAA solutions includes Steel-Belted Radius/Enterprise Edition, Steel-Belted Radius/Service Provider Edition, Steel-Belted Radius Concurrency Operations that are performed simultaneously within the computer. For example, dual-core CPUs provide complete overlapping of two independent processes. See dual core, hyperthreading, multiprocessing, multitasking, multithreading, SMP and MPP. concurrency - multitasking Server, Steel-Belted Radius Port Allocation System, and Steel-Belted Radius Mobile IP Module. In February 2002, it introduced Odyssey, the first end-to-end 802.1x security solution that lets users securely access a WLAN and can be easily and widely deployed across an enterprise network. For more information, visit http://www.funk.com/. Certicom and Trustpoint are trademarks of Certicom Corp. Odyssey is a trademark of Funk Software. Steel-Belted Radius is a registered trademark of Funk Software. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Except for historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, those relating to the acceptance of mobile and wireless devices and the continued growth of e-commerce and m-commerce, the increase of the demand for mutual authentication in m-commerce transactions, the acceptance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography See ECC. (ECC (1) (Error-Correcting Code) A type of memory that corrects errors on the fly. See ECC memory. (2) (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) A public key cryptography method that provides fast decryption and digital signature processing. ) technology as an industry standard, the market acceptance of our principal products and sales of our customer's products, the impact of competitive products and technologies, the possibility of our products infringing patents and other intellectual property of fourth parties, and costs of product development. Certicom will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect Certicom's financial results is included in the documents Certicom files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. |
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