RSA Updates Java Security Products.

RSA Data Security Inc has updated its Java security products, and claims to be the first Java company to support the new TLS  Transaction Layer Security successor to SSL secure socket layer. San Mateo, California-based RSA has updated both its core Crypto-J security product and its SSL-J protocol technology.

Crypto-J 2.2 now supports Intel Corp's Random Number Generator as featured in the 810 chipset, the first stage in the company's partnership with Intel announced earlier this year (CI No 3,648). Also, RSA has made the product "bytecode obfuscatable" which means that the separate Java classes that maker up the security portions of the product cannot be separated out and re-used for other systems that haven't been passed for export control. "We don't want to be a hindrance to our customers' export policies," the company said.

BSAFE SSL-J2.1 is an integrated package of encryption and TLS protocol components for securing commercial and consumer e- commerce applications in market sectors such as banking, financial services, retailing, web publishing and government. SSL version 3 was ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force as long ago as November 1996, and TSL, ratified earlier this year, updates and standardizes the protocol and makes it easier to use.

RSA, which launched its first Java product two-and-a-half years ago, promises an expansion of its Java product line later this year. It says that the Java side is its fastest growing market sector, but that C-based security tools still account for the majority of its sales to its customers - a mix of major ISVs and smaller internet start-ups. RSA says it's now getting less complaints about the relative performance differences between its C and Java product lines, something that should be further improved when Sun announces the Java2 Enterprise Edition technology at the JavaOne conference in a week's time. The company says it has around 500 licensees.