SafeWeb Considers Restoring Online Consumer Privacy Service.Business Editors EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2001 SafeWeb, Inc. (www.safewebinc.com), a leading provider of Web-based privacy and security technologies, today announced that it is considering the possibility of restoring its popular online privacy service. The company suspended its free anonymous Web surfing Surfing the Web without divulging personal information to Web sites and tracking technologies. It is generally accomplished by using a proxy server, which functions as a relay between the user and the destination site, hiding the user's IP address. service last month so that it could focus its efforts on meeting the demand for enterprise applications of its security technology. However, due to renewed interest of users and potential business partners, coupled with continued support for the company's existing project with the Voice of America Voice of America, broadcasting service of the United States Information Agency, est. 1942. Originally set up as a means of fighting the cold war, the Voice of America produces and broadcasts radio programs in English and foreign languages to other countries in order , the company is now evaluating alternative courses of action to keep the service alive. "We have been overwhelmed o·ver·whelm tr.v. o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms 1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline. 2. a. by the response to the shutdown shut·down n. A cessation of operations or activity, as at a factory. shutdown Noun the closing of a factory, shop, or other business Verb shut down of our consumer privacy service," said Jon Chun, president and co-founder of SafeWeb. "We knew we had broad reach, but we weren't expecting to receive this level of outside interest." The consumer privacy service, which launched in October 2000, let Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f surf anonymously and bypass firewalls of governments, corporations, and others who attempted to censor censor (sĕn`sər), title of two magistrates of ancient Rome (from c.443 B.C. to the time of Domitian). They took the census (by which they assessed taxation, voting, and military service) and supervised public behavior. the Web. SafeWeb was serving over 4 million encrypted en·crypt tr.v. en·crypt·ed, en·crypt·ing, en·crypts 1. To put into code or cipher. 2. Computer Science page views per day through the service to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. Continuing uses of SafeWeb's privacy technology SafeWeb's online privacy service is still being used in conjunction with the company's project with Voice of America, which aims to help Chinese Web surfers access sites banned by their government. SafeWeb also licenses its technology to others, including In-Q-Tel, the Central Intelligence Agency's venture catalyst, and PrivaSec LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , which offers a version of SafeWeb's anonymous surfing See anonymous Web surfing. service, called SurfSecure, for a fee. Balancing act Since it turned off the service four weeks ago, SafeWeb has received thousands of phone calls and emails from dedicated users and has been approached by several potential business partners that have persuaded the company to consider reviving the online privacy service. "We will evaluate the prospects on an ongoing basis," said Chun. "The company's final decision will depend on whether there is a viable business model to ensure the privacy service is both sustainable and profitable. We care a great deal about privacy, but as a company, we also need to be profit-minded." Focus on enterprise security SafeWeb considers the undying interest in its online service just one indicator of the market demand for mature security technology. The company is currently focused on delivering its new product, the Secure Extranet Appliance (SEA), to both satisfy this demand and generate revenue. The SEA, which utilizes the same, proven core technology used in SafeWeb's consumer privacy service, has been in development since the company's inception in April 2000. It is scheduled for launch in January 2002. "Our entry into the enterprise market is a planned evolution of our technology that has tremendous potential," said Chun. "The strength and reliability of our consumer technology is perfect to address the security needs of businesses." Availability The SafeWeb Secure Extranet Appliance (SEA) is currently available to qualified enterprise clients. The product will be available to the general public in January 2002. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.safewebinc.com or send inquiries to sales@safeweb.com. About SafeWeb, Inc. Based in Emeryville, California Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California , in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. , SafeWeb was founded in April 2000 to create innovative security and privacy technologies. SafeWeb's new enterprise product, the Secure Extranet Appliance (SEA), provides an economical, simple and effective means for corporations to secure their network resources. The SafeWeb SEA lets companies build secure extranets within just hours so that remote employees, clients and partners can access internal applications and data securely using any Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. . Since its inception, SafeWeb has built the world's largest online privacy network and has established strategic partnerships to deliver solutions to high-profile U.S. government and intelligence agencies. SafeWeb has received numerous awards for its technology, and has been recognized as a privacy and security expert before the U.S. Congress and at industry conferences such as DEF CON For other uses, see Defcon (disambiguation). DEF CON (also written as DEFCON or Defcon) is the world's largest annual hacker convention, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993. . For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.safewebinc.com. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion