U.S. Robotics and IRE Team to Announce Industry's First Complete
Remote Access and Encryption System for Individuals, Enterprises and
the Internet
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 - news) 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. |
