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Sun takes on Feds over US encryption regulations
Network Security
Sun takes on Feds over US encryption regulations Sun Microsystems has declared that it is prepared to “take on the federal government” with its plans to offer a product from Russia that provides 128-bit and triple DES over the Internet, encryption according to Communications Week. The Sun software may help push electronic commerce over the Internet through its ability to enable transaction data to be encoded at security levels currently unavailable any other way. It might also trigger conflict between Sun and the Feds. Today’s regulations make it illegal for a US company to export encryption software that exceeds 56-bit encoding. However, it is legal to import such technology from abroad, presuming the domestic vendor had no role in its development.
July 7997
published publicly nearly two years ago. Sun will manufacture a product called “Secure Virtual Private Network for Windows” which was developed by Moscow-based ElvisPlus Co., and the product will be sold through Sun channels under the name PC Sunscreen SKIP E+. The software is based on Sun’s Simple Key Management for IP (SKIP) encryption and key management technology. The software manages keys for exchanging encrypted data and can sit on any machine, including desktops, servers and routers. Because it operates at the network level, it can work with any IP transmission and does not require any modification to existing applications. The newly formed Sun Security Group worked for two years with the company’s legal and exportcompliant government regulatory departments laying the groundwork that led to the deal, and this will be the first time a major US computer company has offered US-based corporations 128-bit and triple DES encryption for global use. Roy Szweda
“The government will try to link Sun to the development of this product and go after them, or this will open the floodgates on strong encryption,” said John O’Leary, the Director of Education at the Computer Security Institute in San Francisco. Polanen, General Manager of Sun’s security and electronic-commerce group, said, ‘We took great pains to stay within the legal requirements.” Polanen said that a key factor was that Sun offered no technical assistance in the development of the software, although it is based on a protocol the company
6
Microsoft joins Web security consortium its announced Microsoft participation in a group that aims to protect users’ privacy. By joining the Platform for Privacy Protection, Microsoft has agreed to design its products, such as the upcoming Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser, to support the P3 standard. The intent of the P3 system is to allow users to easily control personal the manage and information exchange with Interand intranet sites while enabling
customized more and services.
information
“Safeguarding customer privacy is a priority for Microsoft”, said Paul Maritz, vice president for platforms and applications group at Microsoft. ‘We’re leading the charge to offer safe, secure solutions for delivering personalized Web information and services.”
0 Elsevier Science Ltd
Sun takes on Feds over US encryption regulations Sun Microsystems has declared that it is prepared to “take on the federal government” with its plans to offer a product from Russia that provides 128-bit and triple DES over the Internet, encryption according to Communications Week. The Sun software may help push electronic commerce over the Internet through its ability to enable transaction data to be encoded at security levels currently unavailable any other way. It might also trigger conflict between Sun and the Feds. Today’s regulations make it illegal for a US company to export encryption software that exceeds 56-bit encoding. However, it is legal to import such technology from abroad, presuming the domestic vendor had no role in its development.
July 7997
published publicly nearly two years ago. Sun will manufacture a product called “Secure Virtual Private Network for Windows” which was developed by Moscow-based ElvisPlus Co., and the product will be sold through Sun channels under the name PC Sunscreen SKIP E+. The software is based on Sun’s Simple Key Management for IP (SKIP) encryption and key management technology. The software manages keys for exchanging encrypted data and can sit on any machine, including desktops, servers and routers. Because it operates at the network level, it can work with any IP transmission and does not require any modification to existing applications. The newly formed Sun Security Group worked for two years with the company’s legal and exportcompliant government regulatory departments laying the groundwork that led to the deal, and this will be the first time a major US computer company has offered US-based corporations 128-bit and triple DES encryption for global use. Roy Szweda
“The government will try to link Sun to the development of this product and go after them, or this will open the floodgates on strong encryption,” said John O’Leary, the Director of Education at the Computer Security Institute in San Francisco. Polanen, General Manager of Sun’s security and electronic-commerce group, said, ‘We took great pains to stay within the legal requirements.” Polanen said that a key factor was that Sun offered no technical assistance in the development of the software, although it is based on a protocol the company
6
Microsoft joins Web security consortium its announced Microsoft participation in a group that aims to protect users’ privacy. By joining the Platform for Privacy Protection, Microsoft has agreed to design its products, such as the upcoming Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser, to support the P3 standard. The intent of the P3 system is to allow users to easily control personal the manage and information exchange with Interand intranet sites while enabling
customized more and services.
information
“Safeguarding customer privacy is a priority for Microsoft”, said Paul Maritz, vice president for platforms and applications group at Microsoft. ‘We’re leading the charge to offer safe, secure solutions for delivering personalized Web information and services.”
0 Elsevier Science Ltd