Dude, too much time in the Texas Sun. Pay attention to the line about not being able to develop everything "in-house"
"Even We Can't Develop Everything In-house
The technological success of IBM's micro-payment trial in Denmark is a source of great pride in Israel. The system, which enables secure sales to be made on the Internet at values under $10, is equipped with a security mechanism developed by IBM's security products developments laboratory, located in IBM House in Tel Aviv. The laboratory is currently undergoing a business appraisal process. "Business discussions are currently taking place between IBM and Tela-Denmark," said Zeev Barzilai, manager of the Israeli lab. "In the course of the trial, the system sold newspaper extracts to Web surfers, and the question of what its next operational stage will be is now being examined."
The Tel Aviv development lab is considered one the most important centers of information security know-how for both IBM and the Security Technology Institute. "It's no wonder the Israeli share is so significant," says IBM's Security Business Unit general manager Dr. Jeffrey Jaffe. "A substantial portion of the world's expertise in these areas comes from Israel. Israel has the world's highest proportion of security experts in its population - and so it was natural we should come here."
Barzilai: "IBM has defined an overall security solution for the business world that includes four main stages: examination of risks in the system and identification of problematic points; determination of or recommendation on the correct architecture; selection, in the next stage, of the products that will be installed in the system so as to achieve the required level of protection; and, finally, the integration stage. It includes all the services required to set up the system and provide an overall system protection solution."
In fact, most of the activity in Israel remains confidential, because a large portion of the developments, including new security algorithms, are at this very moment going through the stages of patent registration. In any event, there are two main areas. One is the formation of mutual trust between the two parties making contact - which could be of relevance both to network shopping and to security for virtual private networks (VPN). The Israeli center also develops technologies for secure distribution and management of information within a networked or decentralized organization.
Behind the detailed description lies a simple idea: creating an overall architecture within which products or applications from many companies can be integrated, alongside software from IBM itself. If you will, this is the "operating system" of e-commerce, dealing with matters such as data integrity, user authorization and identification, and electronic signature. The applications themselves can be supplied by other companies, such as Check Point or Memco, and even going through e-commerce companies like Mondex or Schlumberger. "Anyone now developing security systems will find it worthwhile doing so with the aim of integrating into this environment," explains Jeff Jaffe, half threatening, half promising.
IBM is trying an interesting experiment, as, in contrast to other cases, this time it is a matter of one body dealing with all aspects of the market. In general, IBM's research and development activity is divided up into narrowly defined areas: personal computers, databases, development tools, Internet, and so forth. The Information Security Institute, contrary to what has been customary up to now, will coordinate the work in all areas, from software development, through design of dedicated chips and building of complex hardware systems, to consultancy services, a code name in the computer industry that covers not just giving advice, but also providing services and putting together various business models.
Jaffe refuses to go into detail about his plans for cooperation with Israeli Internet security product companies, though he admits that, during his recent visit to Israel, he met several of them. However, one gains the impression that announcements of cooperation agreements of this kind are only a matter of time. "In today's market, there is no company - not even the great IBM - that can develop everything in-house.
"Although we do development ourselves," he continued, "cooperation is an important strategy, and we see Israel as place where there are prospects of cooperation in this field. Many Israeli security companies do not enjoy IBM's marketing power- while we ourselves can help our customers with the aid of these companies' products."
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By Ronny Lifschitz (from GLOBES newspaper)
Published by Israel's Business Arena on January 6, 1999
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