Chrysalis-ITS and Check Point Software Sign Joint Development Agreement for Cryptographic Accelerators
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Collaboration Results in First Comprehensive VPN Solution with Plug-and-Play Hardware Acceleration OTTAWA, ON, February 23, 1998 - Chrysalis-ITS, Inc. and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKPF) today announced that they have signed an exclusive joint development and marketing agreement for high-performance cryptographic accelerator technology. The agreement gives users of Check Point's market-leading Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution the high performance of a hardware-based VPN combined with the flexibility and scalability of a software-based VPN solution, and makes Check Point the first vendor to deliver a secure, reliable and manageable VPN solution that integrates hardware encryption acceleration. Under the terms of the agreement, Chrysalis-ITS and Check Point will develop two hardware boards that will accelerate the cryptographic functions of the ISAKMP/Oakley encryption specification, which is part of the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) IPSec interoperability standard. The boards, available in Q2 1998, will run at 10 Mbits/second and 100 Mbits/second, will give Check Point's VPN solution the ability to scale from T1 links to Fast Ethernet speeds, without any drain on CPU resources. Users of Check Point-based VPNs on Solaris and Windows NT systems can integrate the plug-and-play accelerators transparently into the Check PointTM FireWall-1 VPN solution, without any reconfiguration. "Organizations that are implementing virtual private networks want a guarantee that the critical encryption and authentication processes will not impact the network performance," said Steven Baker, President and CEO of Chrysalis-ITS. "One of the major drawbacks of using encryption is that it requires processing power from the server, which dramatically slows network performance. The technology we are developing with Check Point will eliminate this overhead, and in fact, speed up overall processing." "Chrysalis-ITS is a natural partner for the joint development and marketing effort," said Asheem Chandna, vice president of business development for Check Point Software Technologies, Inc. "Chrysalis has a solid track record of developing innovative, high-performance, extremely secure technology and products. The result of our collaboration will be a comprehensive VPN solution that delivers the speed required for multi-site VPNs with thousands of users." About the Chrysalis-ITS accelerator boards The accelerators are based on Chrysalis-ITS's LunaTM architecture, which provides the highest level of security by using on-board memory and processors to store and process digital signatures, private keys, and encryption algorithms. The keys and algorithms are never directly accessed by the server, so they are invulnerable to outside intruders, viruses, inadvertent erasing, and complications from system failures. The accelerators will use a standard short-form PCI card format that fits into the server running Check Point's FireWall-1 VPN software, and will be designed to meet the NIST FIPS 140-1 Level 2 standard, the leading measurement of physical and logical security for cryptographic hardware. Availability Both the 10Mbps and 100Mbps hardware accelerator boards will ship in the second quarter of 1998 and will be available through Check Point Authorized Resellers who have signed a distribution agreement with Chrysalis-ITS. About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a leading provider of policy-based enterprise security and traffic management solutions. Through its patented Stateful Inspection technology, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver Secure Enterprise Connectivity solutions that protect information assets and enhance the performance of enterprise networks. Check Point offerings include the world's leading enterprise security suite, Check Point FireWall-1, and the industry's premier policy-based bandwidth management solution, Check Point Flood-Gate-1TM. The Company has U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, California and international headquarters in Ramat-Gan, Israel. Additional information is available on the company's World Wide Web site at www.checkpoint.com. About Chrysalis-ITS Chrysalis-ITS, Inc., is a leading provider of Certification Authority, Secure Virtual Private Network, and SSL/SET hardware encryption solutions. Through its Luna technology, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver hardware encryption products that enhance the trust and performance of enterprise networks. Chrysalis-ITS offerings include the leading certificate authority hardware security product, LunaCA™ and the industry's fastest client encryption token, Luna2TM. Chrysalis-ITS' advanced cryptographic technology is used in some of the most widely known enterprise security solutions. They include IBM Corporation's CommercePOINTTM electronic commerce software, Netscape CommunicatorTM 4.X browser, VeriSign's Digital ID Center, Digital Signature Trust's certification authority service, the Entrust Technologies' Entrust enterprise security system and, in Q2, Check Point's Firewall-1 VPN solution. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. More information on Chrysalis-ITS and the Luna high-performance hardware encryption product family is available on the company's World Wide Web site at www.chrysalis-its.com. ###
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