New IBM software to shield e-mail from hackers
By Nicole Volpe
NEW YORK, Dec 14 (Reuters) - IBM Corp. will
announce on Monday software that protects electronic mail
systems against existing vulnerabilities, in an effort to boost
confidence that the Internet is a safe place to do business.
Called Secure Mailer, IBM hopes the program will replace
the existing Sendmail delivery software that currently
processes more than three-quarters of Internet correspondence.
"This will make IBM's and everyone's Internet activities
more secure," promised Charles Palmer, IBM's network security
research manager.
Palmer said the current software used in most e-mail
programs, developed nearly 20 years ago, suffers from "some
nasty bugs" which have been known to delete files, send out
password files and other "dumb things" which hackers can
exploit to compromise security.
In order to entice the software world to scrap this
essentially free program, IBM not only plans to give away its
own version of the product, but is publishing the underlying
source code too. This allows programmers to tinker with the
e-mail software's basic functions and develop improvements.
This is a departure, but a necessary one for IBM. Sendmail
Inc., the privately-held distributor of the current e-mail
program, already freely publishes its own programming code.
IBM stands to benefit indirectly from solving security
issues due to its large and rapidly growing investment in
overall electronic commerce. The computer maker has
traditionally closely guarded its proprietary software
creations and is seen as a jealous defender of its patents.
Chris King, analyst with industry researchers Meta Group,
said he didn't see IBM giving up on its commercial goals by
giving away some of its software secrets. "IBM sees this as an
indirect revenue generator," he said.
IBM said it is publishing the e-mail software code not only
to replace what it considers faulty Sendmail software, but also
as a test run for developing "open source" software in general.
The term refers to the source code that underlies any software
program. In this case, IBM has agreed to openly publish what it
has traditionally considered a trade secret.
"It's clear we are kind of taking baby steps here and
feeling it out," said an IBM spokeswoman. "The feeling is this
definitely an area to explore."
IBM's move follows other leading software makers, like
Netscape Communications Corp. and Sun Microsystems
Inc. , which in the past year have signed up for what
is known in the industry as the open source software movement
with Netscape's browser and Java from Sun.
Open source software has become popular with a growing
number of programmers who see it as an alternative to Microsoft
Corp.'s perceived stranglehold on new innovations
through its dominant Windows operating system.
"For example, versions of these...systems can be bordered
(connected) to larger systems such as to the service providers,
with their big mail sites," said Secure Mailer developer Wietse
Venema. "Programmers may want to add enhancements so it fits
better in these big environments."
The e-mail software will be made available on IBM's
alphaWorks Web site (www.ibm.com/alphaworks).
((--New York Newsdesk (212) 859-1700))
|
