U.S. Robotics and IRE Team to Announce Industry's First Complete Remote Access and Encryption System for Individuals, Enterprises and the Internet
PR Newswire - May 07, 1997 09:59
FINANCIAL USRX IREG CPR MLM PDT V%PRN P%PRN
New Strategic Relationship, Including x2, Expected to Accelerate Electronic
Commerce and Remote Access over Internet and Public Networks
SKOKIE, Ill. and BALTIMORE, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Robotics
(Nasdaq: USRX) and Information Resource Engineering Inc. (Nasdaq: IREG) today
announced a strategic alliance, offering low-cost, highly secure
communications products that allow companies to capitalize on new
opportunities in the rapidly expanding electronic marketplace. The
relationship includes joint sales, distribution and marketing, as well as
possible joint development in the future. By teaming their best-of-breed
product suites, the two companies will provide the industry's first remote
access and encryption system for individuals, enterprises and the Internet.
U.S. Robotics' powerful filtering capabilities, which can limit which
networking resources a user can access, password security and Virtual Private
Networking combine with IRE's highly secure encryption, user authentication
and security protocol technologies, for the most comprehensive network
security available from any networking vendor. U.S. Robotics also brings to
the relationship its breakthrough x2 technology that provides Internet and on-
line downloads nearly twice as fast as standard V.34 modems. In combination,
these features enable high-performance, secure remote access and protected
electronic transactions over the Internet, to Web servers, hosts, databases,
mail servers and virtually any networking resource.
This combination helps open the potential of the Internet and other
networks for secure corporate connectivity and virtual private networking,
secure online transactions and electronic commerce. For example, corporate
customers using the U.S. Robotics/IRE solution could equip a remote sales
force with mobile secure modems and provide secure remote access to the
corporate LAN using the Internet. Individual customers using the U.S.
Robotics/IRE solution with technology such as "digital signatures," a mortgage
transaction could be completed securely over the Internet.
IRE is a leading provider of enterprise network security systems that use
encryption to protect computer networks, such as the Internet. Its encryption
and security solutions are used by some of the world's most security-conscious
financial and government organizations. Worldwide, U.S. Robotics is the
number one supplier of remote access equipment to Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) and the number one modem manufacturer. More people connect to the
Internet through U.S. Robotics' equipment than any other company in the world.
How the Products Work Together: The Relationship Today
U.S. Robotics and IRE provide complementary products for secure
information access for companies and individuals. Customers will be able to
select from a menu of access and security products that let them customize
their secure networks based on their needs. U.S. Robotics also plans to
bundle IRE's low-cost SafeNet Soft security software with selected client
modems to support electronic commerce applications. Companies and individuals
will have a variety of options for authenticating remote users -- potential
solutions such as a combination of passwords and "smart card" technology can
be custom-tailored to an individual's unique security needs.
Once equipped with an IRE security "token", the remote user can then
establish a "virtual tunnel" over the Internet to access data, using U.S.
Robotics' Virtual Private Networking and x2 technologies. On top of this
process, data will be encrypted with IRE's SafeNet technology. U.S. Robotics'
ISP and corporate remote access customers can easily add IRE's SafeNet/LAN to
existing equipment, with no change to U.S. Robotics' remote access hardware.
IRE's SafeNet/Security Center, a comprehensive management center for IRE's
products, will be integrated with U.S. Robotics' Total Control management
software, allowing both products to be managed from a single desktop.
"There are two factors that demonstrate a clear market for this
technology," said Ross Manire, senior vice president and general manager, U.S.
Robotics' Network Systems Division. "First, the data security market is
growing at more than 70 percent a year -- showing the great need for secure
information transfers. And second, the large existing Internet infrastructure
and large national and multinational ISPs provide an environment that is ripe
for corporate access. Security is the number one concern corporations have in
using the Internet for corporate access for their remote and mobile users.
Corporations need not invest in their own remote access infrastructure when
secure access is possible through one of many ISPs who leverage the Internet
as the transport mechanism."
"Our goals in this partnership are quite aggressive and we believe clients
of both companies will reap the rewards immediately," explained IRE Chairman
Anthony Caputo. "Customers will benefit from a broader set of security
options, widely distributed through U.S. Robotics' extensive sales network and
distribution channel. By combining IRE's highly secure technology with U.S.
Robotics' remote access and Virtual Private Network technology, customers will
have the best of both in a tested solution that's easy to integrate."
About IRE
IRE's SafeNet/Enterprise product line provides the full suite of Internet
security -- user identification, one-time password generation, access control,
data encryption and packet authentication. SafeNet/Enterprise includes the
SafeNet/Firewall, to protect connections for both public and private access to
the Internet and SafeNet/LAN is used to protect Intranet connections, allowing
only secure communication across the organization's Internet Virtual Private
Network (VPN) at very low cost. Remote user options include
SafeNet/Smartcard, a smartcard User Token combined with a card reader and
software which operates without modifying application software, SafeNet/Soft,
a software-only solution for remote users which is also application software
transparent, and SafeNet/Dial Secure Modem, a pocket modem with hardware
encryption for maximum security and performance.
Information Resource Engineering, Inc. is a leading developer and
manufacturer of enterprise network security solutions that secure data
transmissions on computer networks.
Organizations using IRE products include J.P. Morgan & Company, Chase
Manhattan Bank, Bank of New York, and Banc One. IRE systems are installed at
a number of major international organizations including Euroclear Operations
Centre in Brussels, the Central Bank of Sweden, and the Post Office Savings
Bank of Singapore, The United States Treasury Department, Lucent Technologies
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation also use IRE Secure Communications
Systems to protect sensitive data.
About U.S. Robotics
U.S Robotics is one of the world's leading suppliers of products and
systems that provide access to information. The company designs,
manufactures, markets and supports remote access servers and concentrators,
enterprise communications systems, desktop/mobile client products and modems
and telephony products that connect computers and other equipment over analog,
digital and switched cellular networks, enabling users to gain access to,
manage and share data, fax, voice and multi-media information. Its customers
include Internet service providers, regional Bell operating companies, inter-
exchange carriers and a wide range of other large and small businesses,
institutions and individuals.
X2 is a trademark of U.S. Robotics. SafeNet is a trademark of IRE. All
other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Information Resource Engineering Inc.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, visit both web sites at
www.usr.com and www.ire.com. |
