Alcatel Passes National Security Agency Encryption Tests - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, Oct 11, 1999

Alcatel Monday announced its OmniSwitch has passed the National Security Agency's interoperability tests with the FASTLANE Release 2 ATM Encryptor (GTE Government System's KG-75), a product evaluated and endorsed by the NSA.

"As the first payload encryptor, the FASTLANE is starting to realize volume sales in the U.S. -- we estimate there are already about 3,000 FASTLANEs installed in federal sites. With the NSA test results we can assure FASTLANE customers support of encrypted traffic over a full-service ATM network," said Tom Wilburn, Alcatel's vice president of North American internetworking sales.

The FASTLANE is the Type 1 ATM encryption product used by the Department of Defense. FASTLANE is designed to provide high-speed, transparent, low-latency security services for multimedia applications across both local and wide area ATM networks. With the successful completion of the tests, Alcatel has met NSA's interoperability requirements.

The tests show Alcatel supports encrypted point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections. They demonstrate complete interoperability with the FASTLANE in four configurations, with Alcatel's OmniSwitch at both the network edge and core, and combining various types of traffic including data and multimedia.

The tests were done with Alcatel's OmniSwitch software version 3.4.2 and FASTLANE software version 2.03. They focused on basic ATM connectivity between FASTLANE and the OmniSwitch in network configurations commonly implemented by the federal government.

The tests demonstrated that the OmniSwitch is capable of switched virtual circuit point-to-point and point-to-multipoint operation, LAN Emulation operation, and classical IP over ATM operation for both FIREFLY and preplaced key in FASTLANEs. The OmniSwitch joined LAN Emulation clients (LECs) to ELANs across the OmniSwitch and the FASTLANE. The switches connected LECs across the network core and edge.

They also provided point-to-multipoint video distribution through FASTLANE. The OmniSwitch is a powerful ATM/LAN switch that provides any-to-any switching among all ATM, LAN, and WAN interfaces. It is widely used by federal organizations including SPAWAR's IT-21 Program, Social Security Agency, National Security Agency, and the Naval Oceanographic Office.

Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data communications solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 120,000 employees and sales of EURO 21.3 billion ($25.0 billion), Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel at http://www.alcatel.com or the U.S. Web site at http://www.usa.alcatel.com.