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Netscape
Granted Federal Approval to Export Netscape Communicator With Strong
128-Bit Encryption to Customers Worldwide
Netscape Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: NSCP)
today announced the United States Department of Commerce has granted
the company permission to export Netscape(R) Communicator client
software with 128-bit encryption capabilities. Available for immediate
download from the Netscape Internet site, Netscape Communicator with
strong encryption would allow users worldwide to enjoy far greater
protection for their information when communicating with certified,
strong encryption applications on Intranets and the Internet. Netscape also received approval to export Netscape
SuiteSpot server software featuring 128-bit encryption capabilities to
certified banks worldwide. VeriSign will be providing a special-use
digital certificate which enables the encryption. This will allow
Netscape Communicator users to access their banking information from
almost anywhere in the world and communicate using strong encryption
with those banks which have implemented Netscape SuiteSpot servers and
completed the certification process. "The ability to export our products with strong
encryption enables Netscape to provide its customers worldwide with
client and server software that can improve the security of their
information and applications," said Taher Elgamal, chief
scientist at Netscape. "This approval is another example of
Netscape's leadership in the privacy and security arenas and is
especially important due to the recent breaking of 56-bit DES by the
DESCHALL group last week." Today's breakthrough announcement marks the first
time Netscape products with strong encryption have been made available
to its customers outside the United States and Canada. Until now,
Netscape was restricted by the United States Government to exporting
software with 40-bit encryption even though 128-bit encryption
technology has been widely available in Netscape products since May
1995. Encryption technology in computer software products
scrambles information and renders it unreadable without a password or
software "key." The strength of encryption is largely a function of
the length of the software keys measured in bits, the zeros and ones
that make up the smallest unit of computer data. The larger the key
size the more difficult it becomes for a person with malicious intent
to decrypt communications. Each additional bit doubles the number of
possible sequences in a software key, so the computer power required
to decrypt a 128-bit key is more than
309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 times harder than a 40-bit key. "Banks require strong encryption to do business
in the global medium of the Internet," said William Reinsch,
Undersecretary of Commerce for Export Administration. "They are
reliable institutions subject to strong regulatory oversight. Banks
are trustworthy when it comes to strong encryption." International users who have Netscape Communicator
do not need to download a new version of Netscape Communicator to take
advantage of the strong encryption capabilities being announced today.
Negotiation of the strong encryption between international versions of
Netscape Communicator and Netscape SuiteSpot servers approved for
export to banks occurs through a unique mechanism based on a
special-use digital certificate. Approval of this certificate based
mechanism is the culmination of months of effort between Netscape and
numerous government agencies. Netscape and VeriSign have worked
closely together to develop digital certificates that allow Netscape
SuiteSpot servers to initiate strong communications sessions with
Netscape Communicator. VeriSign will issue special-use digital
certificates pending final approval from the United States Department
of Commerce. Banks around the world can obtain Netscape Communicator
and Netscape SuiteSpot servers with strong encryption immediately. "VeriSign shares Netscape's goal of expanding
security enabled electronic commerce on the global Internet,"
said Stratton Sclavos, president and CEO of VeriSign. "The
combination of Netscape's products with strong encryption and
VeriSign's technology, practices, and security infrastructure, gives
banks and their customers a whole new level of security for conducting
financial transactions on the Internet." Digital certificates are a form of electronic
identity, which bind an individual or organization to a pair of
software keys that can be used for encrypting and signing digital
information. A digital certificate, also known as a Digital ID, is
issued by a trusted entity called a Certification Authority (CA),
which determines an established set of authentication, background
check, and security procedures before issuing a digital certificate. "Although the Administration's current export
control policy and its proposed legislation (e.g., S.909, the Secure
Public Networks Act) fail to permit U.S. industry to compete on a
level playing field with its non-U.S. counterparts, today's
announcement reveals that there are some areas for agreement,"
said Peter Harter, global public policy counsel at Netscape. "It
is important to recognize that all applicable agencies in the
executive branch signed off on this export plan." Netscape software products incorporate public
key/private key encryption from RSA Data Security. Netscape
Communicator uses RC4 128-bit encryption and other ciphers with Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL), an open security protocol for protecting data
communications across public networks. Netscape designed the SSL
protocol to provide the essential technology for securing a wide range
of commercial and enterprise wide applications, and provides a
straightforward method for adding strong security features to existing
applications and network infrastructures. SSL is application
protocol-independent and provides encryption, which creates a secured
channel to prevent others from tapping into the network;
authentication, which uses certificates and digital signatures to
verify the identity of parties in information exchanges and
transactions; and message integrity, which ensures that messages
cannot be altered en route. Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading
provider of open software for linking people and information over
enterprise networks and the Internet. The company offers a full line
of clients, servers, development tools and commercial applications to
create a complete platform for next-generation, live on-line
applications. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol "NSCP,"
Netscape Communications Corporation in based in Mountain View,
California. Additional information on Netscape Communications
Corporation is available on the Internet at http://home.netscape.com,
by sending email to info@netscape.com,
or by calling 415-937-2555 (corporations) or 415-937-3777
(individuals). VeriSign Inc. is the world's leading Internet
Certification Authority, a trusted third party that authenticates,
issues and manages digital certificates on the Internet. VeriSign's
Digital IDs enable trusted electronic commerce by authenticating the
individuals, organizations and content involved in an electronic
transaction. VeriSign has issued its branded Digital IDs to nearly
20,000 web sites and 1,000,000 individuals who use Netscape and
Microsoft's Internet products. The company also is delivering
customized Digital ID solutions to corporations worldwide including
Novus Services, Toppan Printing and Visa International. VeriSign,
headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., was founded in April 1995. The
company is privately held and has been funded by strategic industry
partners including Ameritech, AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, First Data,
Gemplus, Intuit, Microsoft, Reuters, RSA, Security Dynamics, Softbank
and Visa. For more information, visit the VeriSign Web site at http://www.verisign.com. NOTE: Netscape is a registered trademark of Netscape
Communications Corporation in the United States and other countries.
Netscape's logos and Netscape product and service names are also
trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation, which may be
registered in other countries. Other product and brand names are
trademarks of their respective owners. SOURCE Netscape Communications Corp. -0- 06/24/97
/CONTACT: Chris Holten, 415-937-2521, or chrish@netscape.com,
or Anil Prasad, 415-937-2043, or aprasad@netscape.com,
both of Netscape Public Relations/ (NSCP) CO: Netscape Communications Corp.; VeriSign Inc. ST:
California IN: CPR MLM SU: PDT |
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