SPYRUS Announces Software FORTEZZA Cryptographic Library For Developers.COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1998-- A Cost Effective Cryptographic Solution for Industry and Government is Now Available Commercially As The NSA NSA abbr. National Security Agency Noun 1. NSA - the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign Declassifies FORTEZZA SPYRUS(R) today announced the availability of the Software FORTEZZA(R) Cryptographic Library as an addition to the company's SPEX/(R) (SPYRUS EXtensions) Developers Toolkit. Through SPEX/, Software FORTEZZA provides a "software token" that emulates the operation of the SPYRUS FORTEZZA Crypto Card, a PCMCIA-based, hardware token. SPYRUS, the world's leading supplier of PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, San Jose, CA, www.pcmcia.org) An international standards body and trade association that was founded in 1989 to establish a standard for connecting peripherals to portable computers. PCMCIA created the PC Card. See PC Card. hardware tokens, has commercially supplied over 350,000 FORTEZZA Crypto Cards to the U.S. Government since 1995. Now the National Security Agency (NSA) has selected the Software FORTEZZA Cryptographic library from SPYRUS as the Government reference model. "The commercial availability of Software FORTEZZA marks a major milestone in our efforts to provide a cost-effective cryptography solution," said Sue Pontius, SPYRUSpresident and chief executive officer. "Applications such as Microsoft(R) Exchange(TM) DMS (1) (Document Management System) See document management. (2) (Defense Messaging System) An X.500-compliant messaging system developed by the U.S. Dept. of Defense. , Lotus(R) Notes(TM) DMS, Netscape(R) Communicator(TM), and others that currently support the use of a FORTEZZA Crypto Card will be able to use the Software FORTEZZA library without modification or with a simple recompile To compile a program again. A program is recompiled after a change has been made to it in order to test and run the revised version. Programs are recompiled many times during the course of development and maintenance. See compile. . This allows users to implement a hardware or software solution in accordance with their own policy and assurance needs, while supporting both commercial and government environments." On June 6, 1998, the NSA announced the declassification de·clas·si·fy tr.v. de·clas·si·fied, de·clas·si·fy·ing, de·clas·si·fies To remove official security classification from (a document). de·clas of two robust algorithms for use in Software FORTEZZA: SKIPJACK skipjack: see herring. (cryptography) SkipJack - An encryption algorithm created by the NSA (National Security Agency) which encrypts 64-bit blocks of data with an 80-bit key. , a strong 80-bit symmetric encryption algorithm, and the Key Exchange Algorithm (KEA), a 1024-bit public key algorithm. SKIPJACK and KEA are the two encryption algorithms used in the FORTEZZA Crypto Card and were in the past classified as SECRET by the NSA. The declassification and commercialization of these two algorithms re-emphasizes NSA's commitment to supporting the needs of the business and financial sectors, as well as military and federal government requirements. NSA developed these robust algorithms for the protection of sensitive and classified military and government information and in the NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) A series of publications issed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that specifies information security guidelines for federal government departments and agencies. 140-1 Level 2 certified PCMCIA Card format, these algorithms have been available to protect sensitive and classified information. Now the declassification of these algorithms extends this unique level of information protection to applications operating in a pure software environment. SPYRUS offers a complete SPEX/ Developer's Kit, with support for Software FORTEZZA, the ROSETTA(TM) Public Key Smart Card, and the FORTEZZA Crypto Card, as a commercial product. As part of the launch of Software FORTEZZA, SPYRUS will host an industry event on June 30. During this full-day event, SPYRUS executives, as well as industry and government leaders, will join together with interested software developers and systems integrators to explore this highly anticipated product. In addition to SPYRUS speakers, John Nagengast, assistant deputy director for INFOSEC at NSA, will outline the declassification and commercialization effort. Bruce Schneier, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Counterpane Systems and recognized cryptography expert, will be the keynote speaker. Other industry experts and SPYRUS key personnel will be on hand to present information and answer questions. For more information about this event, visit the SPYRUS home page at www.spyrus.com. ABOUT SPYRUS SPYRUS is a privately held high technology company which applies high assurance public key based security solutions for the Enterprise to manage its valued digital property. The end-to-end security solutions protect Corporate IS, WWW/Internet and Intranet applications, Electronic Commerce, and Government applications. SPYRUS' products enable encryption, digital signature, access control, and metering solutions through a combination of software and hardware technologies that are Algorithm Agile(TM). The company's portable tokens, including its LYNKS Privacy Card(R), FORTEZZA(R) Crypto Card, and ROSETTA(TM) Smart Card, provide a personal, portable electronic identity that enables people to conduct secure electronic transactions anyplace, anywhere, anytime. Its software forms the core of Secure Electronic Transaction (SET)(TM) payment card security, Secure Sockets Layer (networking, security) Secure Sockets Layer - (SSL) A protocol designed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide secure communications over the Internet using asymmetric key encryption. (SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. ) channel security, and Secure HTTP HTTP in full HyperText Transfer Protocol Standard application-level protocol used for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. HTTP runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol. (S-HTTP S-HTTP Secure Hyper Text Transport Protocol ) document security. SPYRUS has headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and has branch offices in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, and London. In 1997 SPYRUS acquired Terisa Systems(R) Inc., which operates as a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. in Los Altos, Calif. For more information about SPYRUS, visit the Web site at www.spyrus.com. SPYRUS(R), SPEX/(R), and LYNKS Privacy Card(R) are registered trademarks of SPYRUS. ROSETTA(TM) and Algorithm Agile(TM) are trademarks of SPYRUS. Terisa Systems(R) is a registered trademark of Terisa Systems Inc., a SPYRUS Company. FORTEZZA(R) is a registered trademark of the U.S. Government. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EDITORS' NOTE: This release is available on the SPYRUS web site at www.spyrus.com.
CONTACT: SPYRUS
Jim Wharton, 410/964-6400
jwharton@spyrus.com
Ken Mohr, 408/432-8180
kmohr@spyrus.com
or
Mentus
Linda Seaton, Dani Mountford, 619/455-5500
lcs@mentusonline.com
dvm@mentusonline.com
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion