VPN customers to get more dial-up, security options
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ATLANTA - Customers of upstart VPN vendor OpenReach will soon be able to dial in to their VPNs thanks to an alliance with Information Resources Engineering to be announced this week at NetWorld+Interop 2000.
OpenReach now offers only site-to-site VPNs between locations that are connected to the Internet by dedicated circuits, but IRE will supply OpenReach with software that allows roaming customers using laptops to dial in.
The custom software is based on IRE's SafeNet/Soft-PK. IRE is trimming its standard SafeNet/Soft-PK so it supports only the authentication and encryption algorithms supported by OpenReach's servers. The full SafeNet/Soft-PK is designed to interoperate with a range of VPN gear made by many vendors, including Cisco, Internet Dynamics and Network Alchemy, (now part of Nokia).
OpenReach runs a network operations center that configures and manages customers' site-to-site VPNs, for which it charges $99 per site, per month. OpenReach customers who want to set up dial-up VPNs can download the software from IRE over the Internet or have it shipped on a CD.
If end users have problems with the software, they can contact their company's internal help desk, which will have access to OpenReach technical staff.
Price of the SafeNet/Soft-PK software for OpenReach has not been set, but IRE says it will be about half the price of its $79-per-copy regular SafeNet/Soft-PK software. It will be available by year-end and sold in bundles of 50, 100 and 500.
Another IRE deal
IRE is also working with RSA Security to make it easier for customers who use IRE's software to build a VPN that incorporates public encryption keys.
The two companies plan to integrate IRE's SafeNet/Soft-PK software with RSA's Keon Desktop and Server public-key infrastructure. Currently, customers have to configure the products themselves - a complicated process - or they must hire IRE to do it at an additional cost.
RSA's Keon manages digital certificates that are used to authenticate VPN users. In addition, Keon Desktop stores users' digital certificates and encryption keys, and makes them available to desktop applications written by other vendors, such as Microsoft and Netscape.
Finally, IRE has created a new unit - SafeNet Products Division - and appointed William Geritz as president and general manager.
The company says the new division will focus more attention on IRE's SafeNet products, including Soft-PK, CryptPCI and Smart hardware, VPN Policy Manager software and security services.
IRE: www.ire.com
OpenReach: www.openreach.com
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