Criminal justice file sharing, revisited

By Ann Harrison
Network World Peer-to-Peer Newsletter, 09/26/01

In recent newsletter, I mentioned that a reader was trying to develop a plan for a file-sharing site that allowed criminal justice systems to swap sensitive information over the Web.

Jim Chaffee, who operates a Web site for a juvenile justice organization (www.ajca.org), was looking for pointers to a secure, scalable system that could support file transfers for some 20,000 cases, as well as collect data for analysis and archiving.

Chaffee wrote back recently saying that he was looking into a system called s-Peer that showed promise. s-Peer, developed by a company called Texar, provides a security architecture for P2P networking using policy-based security and control functions. Its features include policy-based access controls for shared resources, digitally signed user identities, encrypted communications between peers, and data validation and integrity.

Since Chaffee's appeal, other companies have also checked in to say that they too are developing secure platforms that could support his application.

Shawn Berry at Endeavors Technology wrote to say that his company is offering a secure infrastructure that uses open Web standards as a transport mechanism. Berry says the system places a micro thin server on many devices to provide interactive Web sites that can be used by enterprises and government agencies. Berry noted the importance of security, open standards and the ability to leverage existing infrastructure as some of the cornerstones of his product.

Tom Ricci, marketing director of Mangosoft wrote in to remind me that his company's Mangomind Internet file sharing service (which I reviewed in a newsletter published in March) is designed to securely transfer electronic files and archive them in a secure on-line environment. Files are transferred with 128-bit encryption and stored in their encrypted state on the Mangomind Drive.

In addition to end-to-end file security, Ricci says Mangomind provides user authentication and access control on individual files and folders. He adds that Mangomind is scalable and allows users to add storage or users as needed. Mangomind uses a Windows file system and has the same look and feel as a Windows "C" drive.

In a future newsletter, I will be looking into SaffronTech a start-up company currently in stealth mode, which claims to have developed the kind of advanced, ultra-scalable and secure P2P networking platform Chaffee is looking for.

Bob Trepper, VP of SaffronTech's commercial division also sent a pointer to a white paper about his company's technology, which we'll examine in a future issue.