Successful Interoperability Between IPSec Security Solutions Demonstrated for the First Time

Industry leaders take first important step toward true interoperability between multi-vendor security solutions

(Networld + Interop) Las Vegas, NV, May 6, 1997 – At Networld + Interop, a consortium of industry leaders facilitated by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) - a not for profit trade association – and the organization's Automotive Network eXchange™ (ANX) initiative, today announced that interoperability between multi-vendor security solutions has been reached for the first time. During the March consortium meeting, held at FTP Software in Andover, MA, IPSec, (Internet Protocol Security standard), interoperability was successfully demonstrated by vendors that offer IETF IPSec standard-based solutions. As a result of this interoperability, secure communication between different vendor security solutions is now possible.

The interoperability event had two purposes; to allow vendors to test their implementation of the IPSec proposed standard with other vendors, and to insure that the standard, as proposed, was designed to meet the needs of typical customer environments. Vendors who participated were Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., Cisco, Entrust Technologies, FTP Software Inc., IRE, Microsoft, Raptor, Timestep Corporation, and Trusted Information Systems. System Integration and Network Services participants were Chrysler Corporation, EDS, I-NET, networkMCI, Netrex, and Precision Guesswork.

IPSec interoperability enables business partners to communicate securely with different types of network equipment implementing the standard. This could include dedicated security hardware, firewalls, routers, servers and clients, or any network element that implements a TCP/IP stack.

The U.S. Department of Commerce projects that business use of encryption for confidentiality will grow from 17% (1995) to 60% by the year 2000, a 29% annual growth rate. IPSec is seen as a key method for providing this level of security. Companies and organizations who plan to provide worldwide access of corporate resources to mobile workers, telecommuters, and /or branch offices via the Internet or TCP/IP network are currently testing, evaluating and developing plans to deploy this technology. Within the automotive industry, the ANX organization has been a driving force in the design and interoperability initiative.

IPSec defines a set of standard security protocols that authenticate TCP/IP connections, add data confidentiality and integrity to TCP/IP packets, and are transparent to the application and the underlying network infrastructure. IPSec is designed to support multiple encryption and authentication protocols so a company's security policy can dictate a desired amount of data privacy and authentication. IPSec enables the idea of secure virtual private networking (VPN), a relatively inexpensive and secure way to connect mobile workers, telecommuters and branch offices to a corporate site over the Internet or any TCP/IP network.

IPSec is the first security standard to be designed with multi-vendor interoperability in mind. IPSec's flexible key management scheme, the Internet Security Association Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP), allows two parties to quickly and dynamically agree on a security association (keys, encryption and authentication algorithms and other parameters for the connection) before any communications takes place. Thus any equipment implementing IPSec would be interoperable.

Consortium Participants

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1997 Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd. Check Point, the Check Point logo, Check Point FireWall-1, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 SecuRemote, FireWall-First! and INSPECT are trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. 3Com and NETBuilder are registered trademark of 3Com Corporation. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.