Sun Extends Internet/Intranet Security to End User Devices; SKIP for Solaris Broadens the Range of Security Offered by the SunScreen Product Line

Business Wire, August 30, 1996

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 1996--Sun Microsystems' Internet Commerce Group, today announced the availability of SKIP (Simple Key management for IP) for Solaris (TM) operating environment, the most recent addition to its SunScreen family of security and electronic commerce products.

Based on SKIP, a stateless protocol which provides data encryption and authentication of the IP traffic stream, SKIP for Solaris is a software module which enables end user devices such as remote clients, workstations, and servers to securely conduct business over the Internet and corporate intranets.

Besides enabling point-to-point communication, SKIP for Solaris also permits remote or mobile employees and customers to securely communicate with protected corporate sites when used with any of the existing SunScreen firewall products. For example, SKIP for Solaris enables banking institutions to facilitate secure home banking transactions with customers via the Internet.

Telecommunications companies can also benefit by gaining the ability to offer access to value-added services over the Internet.

"SKIP for Solaris leverages Sun's networking expertise and complements our existing family of firewall products," said Humphrey Polanen, general manager of the Sun Internet Commerce Group (ICG). "It's an integral part of a complete, scalable security solution that decreases the total cost of ownership for virtual private networking.

"By incorporating unique features such as multicast capability and rapid in-line key update, we've proven that we understand the issues which must be addressed in order to truly enable electronic commerce over the Internet."

SKIP provides security transparently to users, and it enables secure communication without requiring knowledge of SKIP and without modifications to existing applications. The SKIP key management protocol is a mature, lightweight, network-layer protocol supporting multicast as well as unicast IPv4 and IPv6 addressing; automatic certificate discovery; encryption algorithm discovery; and Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS).

Multicast IP can be used to provide secure broadcasts (such as video over IP) to groups of users. Automatic certificate discovery lets SKIP hosts exchange public-key certificates without the need for manual intervention or floppy-swapping. Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) provides security for past network traffic, even if long-term keys are stolen or compromised.

The SKIP rapid in-line update of the keys used for traffic encryption provides one of the highest levels of security currently available for implementation on end system devices. SKIP changes the encryption keys every 30 seconds or 500 kbytes by default to minimize the amount of network data encrypted with a single key. This significantly reduces the amount of data sacrificed in the instance that an unauthorized party gains access to one of the keys.

Additionally, SKIP in-line key updates work even over uni-directional links, such as IP delivered by satellite or cable broadcast. SKIP encryption may coexist with other popular application encryption schemes such as PGP, PEM, and SSL.

Pricing and Availability

SKIP for Solaris will be available on August 30 in three versions: 512-bit (global availability); 1024-bit (exportable for financial institutions for financial transactions and to foreign subsidiaries of U.S. chartered companies); and 2048-bit (domestic use only). Pricing ranges from $99 for a single-user license to $10/copy for volumes of 5K-10K licenses. For additional information, please call 800/820-9995 or send e-mail to SunScreen@incog.com.

SKIP for PC, which will be compatible with most commercial TCP/IP stacks available for Microsoft Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows NT, will be commercially available later in the year.

With annual revenues exceeding $7 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc. provides products and services that enable customers to build and maintain open network computing environments. Widely recognized as a proponent of open standards, the company is involved in the design, manufacture and sale of products, technologies and services for commercial and technical computing.

Sun's SPARC (TM) workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC microprocessors, Solaris operating software and ISO-certified service organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX (R) industry. Java (TM), Sun's platform-independent programming language, provides a comprehensive solution to the challenge of programming for complex networks, including the Internet. Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Mountain View.

Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com. Information specific to Sun's Internet Commerce Group can be found at http://www.incog.com. The home page for Simple Key management for IP ("SKIP") is http://skip.incog.com. -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Java, Solaris, and The Network Is The Computer, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant Logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc.