Great news for SDTI: Message 8490102
3/24/99 - RSA BSAFE(TM) CRYPTO-C ALGORITHMS GAIN NIST CERTIFICATION
Certification Facilitates Streamlined Procurement and Deployment of RSA's
Security Technology
SAN MATEO, Calif., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- RSA Data Security, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Security Dynamics Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDTI), today
announced that three key algorithms -- DES, SHA-1, and DSA -- implemented in its BSAFE(TM) Crypto-C security software development product have been awarded
Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) algorithm conformance certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). As a result, the more
than 400 licensees of BSAFE Crypto-C will be able to utilize the FIPS approved DES, SHA-1, and DSA algorithms within BSAFE Crypto-C version 4.11 to quickly obtain
FIPS 140-1 certification for their applications. This certification removes significant procurement and technology deployment barriers for third parties that develop and sell
secure software applications to the U.S. government agencies.
"NIST accreditation is recognized as a major benchmark for security testing around the world, and it is a significant milestone for RSA to achieve certification," said Scott
Schnell, senior vice president of marketing for RSA and Security Dynamics Technologies. "RSA partners using BSAFE Crypto-C software and selling to the government
now can benefit from having a pre-certified cryptographic module within their application."
"We are pleased to be working with a partner such as RSA that makes high quality and reliability a key priority," said Rich Fabbre, TRW Defense Travel System Program
Manager. "RSA's NIST certification signifies this commitment."
The FIPS 140-1 standard covers implementations of cryptographic modules including hardware components, software programs, computer firmware, or any combination
thereof. The cryptographic modules that comply with the standard are deemed to employ cryptographic algorithms, cryptographic key generation algorithms and key
distribution techniques, and authentication techniques that have been FIPS approved for protecting Federal Government unclassified information. Since June 1997, all
federal agencies, including defense agencies, that use cryptographic-based security systems to protect sensitive unclassified information within computer and
telecommunication systems, including voice systems, are required to purchase products that conform to the NIST FIPS 140-1 standard (www.csrc.nist.gov/fips/).
"Receiving this certification for RSA's implementation of these algorithms in such a widely used software development kit provides a solid foundation for industry
development of cryptographic products," said Miles E. Smid, chief of the computer security division at NIST. "We look forward to continued successful collaborative work
with RSA in helping build quality products in which users can have confidence."
About DES, DSA and SHA-1
The Data Encryption Standard (DES) describes the data encryption algorithm (DEA) and is one of the best known and most widely used symmetric algorithms in the world.
DES is a symmetric block cipher that uses a 56-bit key to encrypt and decrypt data. When used for communication, both the sender and receiver must know the same
secret DES key and provide a separate secure channel for communicating the DES key from the sender to the receiver. DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm), issued in 1994,
is one of the approved digital signature algorithms for the U.S. Government. The SHA-1 secure hash algorithm is a hash function that takes a large message or document
and produces a 160-bit digest of the message which is used in the mathematical construction of a digital signature. SHA-1 is a revision to SHA that was published in 1994.
About BSAFE Crypto-C
BSAFE(TM) Crypto-C software is one of the world's best-selling cryptography engines and provides software developers with multiple algorithms and modules for adding
encryption and authentication features to applications. BSAFE Crypto-C software includes modules for popular security encryption techniques, such as RSA, DES, RC2,
RC4, and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), and also supports digital signatures and certificates.
RSA Data Security, Inc.
RSA Data Security, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Security Dynamics Technologies, Inc., is a leading supplier of software components that secure electronic data, with
more than 400 million copies of RSA encryption and authentication technologies installed worldwide. RSA technologies are part of existing and proposed standards for the
Internet and World Wide Web, ISO, ITU-T, ANSI, IEEE, and business, financial and electronic commerce networks around the globe. RSA develops and markets
platform-independent security components and related developer kits and provides comprehensive cryptographic consulting services. RSA can be reached at
rsa.com.
NOTE: RSA, RSA Data Security, Inc., and BSAFE Crypto-C are trademarks of RSA Data Security, Inc. All other products and companies mentioned herein may be
trademarks of their respective holdings and are hereby recognized.
SOURCE RSA Data Security, Inc.
-0- 03/24/99 /CONTACT: Patrick Corman of Corman Communications, 650-326-9648, or patrick@cormancom.com, for RSA Data Security, Inc./
/Web site: csrc.nist.gov
rsa.com
(SDTI)
CO: RSA Data Security, Inc.; Security Dynamics Technologies, Inc. ST: California IN: CPR SU: |
