NDS SafeCast Provides IP Multicast Security for StarBurst OmniCast; Agreement Paves Way for New Secure Multicast Product.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1998--NDS Ltd., one of the world's most advanced data security providers for broadcast television, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the first integration of SafeCast(TM), NDS' security software for IP multicast, with StarBurst OmniCast software.

The projected release date for the new product is early in the second quarter of 1999. Integration of the two existing systems is expected to continue to evolve over time in response to increasing market demand for security features.

StarBurst specializes in one-to-many, guaranteed, simultaneous content distribution and one of the ways in which they can do this is through multicasting. The new product provides a secure method for multicasting, the technology that allows the transmission of files to multiple locations.

Multicast is an efficient way to deliver valuable content -- text, data, audio or video, in real time or non real time -- simultaneously to multiple recipients. Multicast works over LANs, WANs and satellites. NDS will be providing StarBurst OmniCast with server and client middleware to secure content distribution.

"Securing multicast is a natural extension of our broadcast business and solidifies our position in the important area of secure access to network data via smart cards," said Dr. Abe Peled, NDS CEO. "We are very pleased to be working with StarBurst, a recognized leader in the emerging area of content distribution to provide a secure solution to multicast."

"StarBurst provides software for one-to-many guaranteed content distribution and now that we can offer security, our solution is complete," said Bill Andrews, StarBurst Vice President, Sales and Marketing. "We are happy to be working with NDS to ensure that our products will be providing secure multicast transmissions."

SafeCast/OmniCast Integration: Background

StarBurst OmniCast is a family of applications that provides guaranteed, one-to-many simultaneous content distribution with comprehensive management capabilities. NDS SafeCast will provide StarBurst OmniCast with the following security features: -0-

--   Source Authentication: Receivers will be sure that received data
     originates from the stated sender.
--   Receiver Authentication: Only eligible group members will be able
     to receive the multicast data. The authenticity of every
     authorized receiver will be checked and verified.
--   Data Integrity: Data being transmitted from the source to the
     receivers will have its integrity protected via digital
     signatures. The digital signatures will be attached to data
     packets, thus ensuring that received packets are intact and have
     not been altered, accidentally or maliciously, during
     transmission.
--   Data Confidentiality: Only authorized receivers of a multicast
     session will be able to understand the contents of the
     transmission. Data packets flowing via OmniCast will be encrypted
     to ensure the confidentiality of the data.

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Why Secure Multicast?

Data communications are prone to many types of security threats. The most severe include eavesdropping, impersonation, data manipulation, session hijacking and theft of service or content.

Current and evolving IP multicast communication protocols incorporate very few management, control and security features. NDS SafeCast is designed to solve this problem by meshing easily with the existing and emerging multicast protocol standards, while requiring low memory and storage overhead.

About SafeCast

NDS, leaders in safeguarding Pay-TV content and billions of dollars of broadcasting revenues, created SafeCast to offer: -0-

--   Advanced multicast security that is modular and future proof.
--   Cost-effective, simple implementation.
--   Proven security technology used by leading broadcasters
     worldwide.

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SafeCast is designed for corporations, data broadcasters, content providers, multicast service operators and ISPs who want to manage, control and secure their multicast content distribution.

SafeCast is a complete, secure multicast distribution system. It can be used as a stand-alone system or integrated with existing multicast distribution systems to provide a wide array of security services, ensuring that confidential information remains that way.

SafeCast protects multicast systems, including OmniCast, against security threats using proven cryptographic mechanisms and tools to manage the security characteristics of the multicast content, the security attributes of users and

the easy distribution and maintenance of decryption keys.

SafeCast provides authentication of multicast source and recipients, data integrity, authenticity, and secrecy, and accountability for multicast content distribution and consumption.

SafeCast is based on proven NDS conditional access technology, which is used by more than 10 million subscribers and protects billions of dollars of broadcaster revenues annually. NDS knows how to protect data with a solution that is modular, expandable and future proof.

SafeCast is an application-level solution. It uses information about the security characteristics of multicast content to increase protection while minimizing communication overhead.

SafeCast is an open, comprehensive architecture for securing all types of multicast content. It provides easy-to-use security APIs for multicast applications, shielding application developers from complex security concerns and mechanisms.

SafeCast Features -0-

--   Complete server and client middleware solutions with
     documentation.
--   Comprehensive solution for all types of multicast content.
--   Distributed and scaleable architecture and algorithms.
--   Software solution with optional smart card security enhancements.
--   Application-layer solution enabling tailoring of security
     services to content type.
--   Runs over any IP multicast infrastructure, whatever the switching
     and routing protocols.
--   Easy to integrate into existing infrastructure and applications.

-0-

NDS has now applied its security expertise and experience to protecting Internet multicast. NDS is an executive member of the IPMI (Internet Protocol Multicast Initiative) industry consortium, and a leading participant in the Multicast Security Working Group of the IRTF (Internet Research Task Force). SafeCast complies with emerging standards for Internet multicast.

About OmniCast

StarBurst OmniCast offers a revolutionary new way to provide guaranteed, efficient delivery of content to a few or thousands of receivers. It is ideal for software distribution, enterprise-wide business data delivery, audio and video file distribution, web site content synchronization, database synchronization, and content distribution applications.

OmniCast offers rapid, simultaneous file delivery from a single sender to all network receivers, resulting in reduced network traffic and reduced server resource usage.

While current point-to-point file transfer methods use a bandwidth consuming approach to delivering information, and sending CD-ROMs can be extremely costly and inefficient, StarBurst OmniCast enables servers to distribute content over the network simultaneously to all recipients, using bandwidth much more efficiently and significantly reducing the load on the sending servers.

StarBurst OmniCast works over all networks utilizing unicast broadcast, FanOut packet replication and multicast. StarBurst OmniCast is a multi-platform, cross-platform, client/server application available on the following platforms: Sun Solaris, SunOS, HP-UX, IBM AIX, Digital UNIX, SGI IRIX, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows, DOS, OS/2, VAX VMS, SCO OpenServer and SCO UnixWare.

About NDS

NDS, headquartered in the United Kingdom, with operations worldwide, provides end-to-end solutions for digital broadcasting through the company's research, development and manufacturing activities. NDS is a recognized leader in digital video compression and conditional access, and has proven systems integration and global support capabilities.

NDS is providing its advanced technologies, products and services to many of the current and planned satellite and terrestrial broadcasting systems around the world. In addition, over 10 million subscribers around the globe use NDS conditional access systems to receive Pay-TV satellite and cable services.

NDS plays a major part in developing open systems and the international standards for the digital broadcasting arena, providing the technology and market know-how to implement standards such as MPEG-2, DVB, ATSC, SMPTE and DTTV. The company continues to make a major commitment to R&D, with over 700 of its 1,350 plus employees dedicated to its pioneering development work at research centers in Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.

NDS is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NWS), a leading global media company. NDS has won many awards for technology including an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and three Queen's Awards, one for Technology and two for Export. NDS is on the World-Wide-Web at: http://www.ndsworld.com.

About StarBurst

StarBurst is the leader in developing content distribution solutions that provide fast, simultaneous and guaranteed delivery of content such as video, audio, software and large data files to a few or thousands of receivers.

StarBurst customers include automotive companies such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler; retail companies like Toys 'R Us, TJX Companies, The Gap, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, and Montgomery Ward; hospitality companies including Choice Hotels and Promus Hotels; financial companies such as Ohio Companies and Thomson Securities Information Services; communications companies such as WebTV; and many other industry leaders from a wide array of markets worldwide.

The Concord, Mass.-based company is privately held and venture capital-funded. More information can be found at StarBurst's World Wide Web site: http://www.starburstcom.com.