Thales SONET Encryption Appliance Receives FIPS 140-2 Level 2 Validation.WESTON, Fla. -- Thales, the leader in high-performance encryption, announced today that its state-of-the-art Datacryptor[R] SONET/SDH OC-3/12/48 encryptors have been validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of "working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards" in the national interest. (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. ) under the Federal Information Processing Standard Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are publicly announced standards developed by the United States Federal government for use by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors. (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. ) 140-2 validation process. Thales continues to demonstrate its leadership and strength in the encryption marketplace, as it currently maintains over 30 FIPS product certifications Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance and/or quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in regulations such as a building code and nationally accredited test standards, for the Datacryptor product line. The certification allows Thales to continue to be a key supplier of encryption products to the U.S. Government. As the gold standard for cryptographic security, FIPS-140-2 validation is required by the U.S. Federal Government to certify the design strength of information assurance products, and is increasingly becoming a benchmark for the private enterprise sector including the banking and finance markets. Supporting the Advanced Encryption Standard (cryptography, algorithm) Advanced Encryption Standard - (AES) The NIST's replacement for the Data Encryption Standard (DES). The Rijndael /rayn-dahl/ symmetric block cipher, designed by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, was chosen by a NIST contest to be AES. (AES) with 256-bit encryption algorithm A formula used to turn ordinary data, or "plaintext," into a secret code known as "ciphertext." Each algorithm uses a string of bits known as a "key" to perform the calculations. The larger the key (the more bits), the greater the number of potential patterns can be created, thus making and with redundant power to meet high-availability applications, Thales' high-speed optical encryption platforms are being deployed to enable high-speed and high-reliability of mission critical applications worldwide. Thales' Datacryptor portfolio of encryption products and solutions is highly recognized in the industry for securing the confidentiality of critical data in transit. Datacryptor SONET/SDH enables customers to meet government data security mandates and regulations, while delivering higher efficiency compared to Layer 3 IPSec based solutions. Financial and government agencies are increasingly deploying Layer 2 encryption solutions to reduce latency and increase performance. Wide-area network applications such as business continuity, disaster recovery, call centers connectivity, and Storage Area Networks (SAN) are increasingly being provisioned over high-speed/high-bandwidth optical links. The Datacryptor SONET/SDH products are interoperable with SONET/SDH and DWDM (Dense WDM) The term given to wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) when significantly more channels were being added. Since WDM is increasingly more "dense" all the time, both terms are used synonymously. See WDM. DWDM - wavelength division multiplexing telecommunications services and have been deployed with the leading storage vendors. "Our continued commitment in obtaining NIST certifications is a clear validation of Thales expertise in the security industry. We are committed to support our customers' requirements and these certifications validate the security assurance that Thales solutions bring to the market," said James Kilazoglou, VP and Managing Director of the e-Security activities of Thales. About Thales Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, serving defense, aerospace and security markets worldwide, supported by a comprehensive services offering. Thales offers unmatched capability in the development and deployment of critical information systems. The group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Thales group The Thales Group (Euronext: HO) is a major French electronics company delivering mission-critical information systems and services for the Aerospace, Defense, and Security markets. employs 70,000 people in 50 countries and generated revenues of $13 billion in 2006. Thales is a world leader in the provision of cryptographic security products and solutions for all critical infrastructures including governments, the military, satellite networks, enterprises and the finance industry. Thales has 40 years of unrivalled track record in protecting networks and a complete portfolio of products which includes network encryption, access control and remote user solutions. In the financial world, Thales secures value bearing transactions, data preparation for card and PIN issuing, and provides advanced user and message authentication (1) Verifying the integrity of a transmitted message. See message integrity, e-mail authentication and MAC. (2) Verifying the identity of a user logging into a network. solutions supported by secure identity management and token issuing. Over half of the world's banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology and services. Visit Thales e-Security on the Web at: www.thalesesec.com. |
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