E-mail security vendor Espion International recently released a dual-key system for encrypting e-mail that works with the company’s gateway appliance or as a stand-alone appliance.
E-mail security vendor Espion International last week released a dual-key system for encrypting e-mail that works with the company’s gateway appliance or as a stand-alone appliance.
Called MXLock Secure Email and available immediately, the product is designed to secure outbound e-mails that relate to government regulations, corporate policy, intellectual property or other sensitive information.
“One thing we feel is very important is ensuring that with the transmission of information and ideas they are received by the intended recipient,” says Murali Chakravarthi, CTO of Espion. “That can be controlled and locked down.”
MXLock uses two-key encryption; one of the 1,024-bit keys resides at the sender’s gateway, the other is delivered to the recipient as part of the e-mail. When the recipient gets an e-mail from an MXLock user who has encrypted a message, the recipient is directed to click on a link embedded in the e-mail. Once at this Web page, the recipient’s key is authenticated against the key stored in MXLock and a browser window is opened for viewing or downloading the decrypted message, Chakravarthi explains.
In addition to allowing companies to send secure e-mail, MXLock can be used as a replacement for FTP transfers, Chakravarthi says.
Administrators can set policies to automatically encrypt outbound e-mails that contain sensitive information by comparing the content of messages to the included dictionary of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-related terms, or based on other keywords in the body of the e-mail or elements such as the text of the subject line or the sender, Chakravarthi says.
A number of other e-mail security companies, including CipherTrust, Mirapoint and Sigaba, offer encryption on outbound e-mail, either through their own technology or via licensing deals with third parties.
For companies covered by HIPAA regulations, being able to have e-mail automatically encrypted is a significant benefit.
“We’re a healthcare facility so we need to be able to send personal health information and not be sending it in clear text,” says Kate Fuller, network administrator with Trover Clinic and Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, Ky. Prior to installing MXLock, Trover’s users were told they simply couldn’t send personal health information over e-mail; now with Espion’s product any e-mail destined for specificed recipients – a physician, for example – is automatically encrypted.
Fuller could have chosen from a number of e-mail encryption products already on the market, but since the company already uses Espion’s Interceptor appliance she decided to wait for MXLock. “Espion’s been real responsive, that’s why we were willing to wait for them to develop an encryption product.”
Espion is also working on integrating the artificial intelligence algorithm used in its Interceptor e-mail security appliance with MXLock. This algorithm “learns” what e-mail users deem valid mail vs. spam and blocks unwanted messages accordingly, says Chakravarthi. In addition, the appliance is “hyperseeded” with years of understanding what is and is not spam and other unwanted e-mail, so it begins blocking messages as soon as it is installed at an organization, he says.
Espion offers an example of why this artificial intelligence approach to blocking unwanted e-mail is effective: A customer, based in Baton Rouge, La., had many of its customers knocked off-line during Hurricane Katrina. Unlike other anti-spam products that rely on constant updates from vendors’ network operation centers to remain effective, Interceptor stores at the customer’s gateway, all of the information needed to block unwanted mail, based on this learning approach. Therefore, Espion’s customers didn’t need to be online during the hurricane and its aftermath to keep blocking spam, Chakravarthi says.
By leveraging this technology in MXLock, the product could automatically detect which outbound messages should be encrypted, he says. That version of MXLock is slated for release within a few weeks, according to Ron Kaufman, COO of Espion.
MX Lock costs $8,250 for small and midsize businesses (up to 750 users) and $13,250 for enterprises (up to 5,000 users). Interceptor with MX Lock is priced at $14,500 for SMBs, $22,500 for enterprises.
Espion is offering special pricing for customers affected by Hurricane Katrina; for those companies in the FEMA Federal Disaster zip codes, Interceptor with MX Lock is priced at $9,875 for SMBs and $15,795 for enterprises.
