The RSA Security conference next week will be a launch pad for new products, including cryptographic processors, firewalls, intrusion-detection software and public-key infrastructure (PKI) tool kits.
IBM Corp. will announce the shipment next quarter of the IBM 4758 Model 2 and 23 Cryptographic Coprocessors, which are programmable cards that handle Windows NT or OS/2 hardware-based encryption. Faster and more secure than encryption software, the IBM hardware can process Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Triple-Data Encryption Standard, digital certificates, and personal identification number generation.
NetGuard will be displaying Guardian Pro for NT, a firewall for securing enterprise networks that may use cable modems and asymmetric digital subscriber line to reach the Internet. In addition, the company will introduce a US$199 firewall called Guardian Soho NT for offices with up to 10 users.
Intrusion-detection software vendor Tripwire will show an early release of a product called Tripwire Enterprise Control, which includes agent software for detecting unauthorized file changes in up to 250 NT or Unix server nodes.
"Our earlier version of Tripwire had no central console for reporting on or configuring multiple nodes," says Gene Kim, chief technology officer at the company. "The central console, based on NT, has a 'red light, green light' feature, so you don't have to read 50 reports to know files haven't been tampered with." Tripwire expects to ship the product in March at a price of $12,995 for the console and $495 for each server agent.
On the show floor, Cylink will be demonstrating two new products, a digital certificate tool kit called NetAuthority, and an IP Security gateway, NetHawk, which is a hardware appliance with an embedded operating system. Pricing is not yet available.
Conference host RSA Security will also make news. The company, which makes the SecurID authentication tokens and server for one- time passwords, will announce SecurID agent software that can sit on Windows 2000 to hand off authentication requests to its ACE/Server in order to provide strong authentication of Win 2000 applications. RSA will have a similar agent for Novell Directory Services and Lotus' Domino 5.0 server.
RSA will also announce two tool kits for including SSL encryption in wireless devices. The first, the BSAFE SSL Toolkit for Low-Bandwidth Devices, will let developers include native SSL and X.509 certificates in wireless handheld units of any type.
The second, called BSAFE Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) 1.0, supports the encryption security protocol outlined in the wireless industry's standard for browser-based wireless communication, the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).
Wireless of all sorts is getting the attention of PKI vendors. Entrust, a competitor to RSA, will show how its PKI tool kit, which is not WAP-based, can be used to secure and sign traffic between wireless text pagers used in business-to-business communication.
Entrust will also be part of a Microsoft announcement stating that the Entrust PKI 5.0 tool kit and certificates work with Win 2000. In addition, Intel will announce it is bundling Entrust software into its network interface cards to provide secure Ethernet access. At its booth, Hewlett-Packard will be showcasing DomainGuard Enterprise 1.0, a module for the Microsoft Internet Information Server to place access controls on Web server pages. The HP product starts at US$2,994 for 100 users.