News

Strong and easily manageable PKI solution for CA's to safeguard certificate signing keys

SSH Communications Security(HEX:SSH1V), a world-leading developer of Internet security solutions, today announced a technology partnership agreement with nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), a leading provider of cryptographic IT security solutions to enable SSH Certifier customers to satisfy industry best practices by adopting the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140 for cryptographic key management.

SSH CertifierTM PKI solution has been integrated with nCipher's range of Hardware Security Modules (HSMs). SSH Certifier PKI solution and nCipher's HSM product range will protect the integrity of the certification authority's private keys, enabling strong, secure creation of certificates. The integrated products are commercially available immediately.

"We are excited to work with an industry leader such as SSH in offering our joint customers a scalable and manageable best of breed security solution", said Richard Moulds, Vice President of Marketing at nCipher. "Integrating SSH Certifier and nCipher's HSM products combine a strong private key storage environment with flexible management features to deliver enhanced levels of security and system performance. By establishing full interoperability, customers benefit from quicker deployment as new PKI services are brought on line."

SSH Certifier and nCipher's HSMs provide flexible, scalable and cost effective PKI deployment for enterprises and service providers. SSH Certifier's Virtual CA concept and nCipher's HSMs make it is possible to host hundreds of certification authorities (CAs) on a single platform, lowering the cost of multi CA hosting services while ensuring the highest security possible.

"Corporations, institutions and service providers are facing a growing demand to ensure that their certification authority's private keys are protected from internal and external threats", said Tatu Ylonen, Chief Technology Officer of SSH Communications Security Corp. "Integrating SSH Certifier with nCipher's HSM world class hardware products will provide certification authorities a strong, reliable and manageable PKI solution."

About SSH Certifier

SSH Certifier is an application software package for issuing and managing digital certificates in an enterprise or service provider environment. SSH Certifier is an ideal platform for hosting a managed multi-CA service environment with strong authentication and identification. SSH Certifier also features Web-based configuration tools, allowing network administrators to easily install and manage digital certificates from a central or remote location. SSH Certifier is an OPSEC Certified (Open Platform for Security) PKI solution.

About nCipher

nCipher is redefining cryptographic security to protect points of risk across the enterprise-from network appliances to Web servers, to custom software applications and back-end databases. nCipher provides hardware and software solutions that enable organizations to implement best practice security by addressing the challenges of cryptographic key management and performance. Many of the world's leading organizations - from Microsoft and Barclays Bank to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the U.S. Navy - rely on nCipher to deliver a sound e-security infrastructure. nCipher's products are particularly well suited to organizations with high volumes of security-sensitive transactions, such as banking and financial institutions, government departments, e-retailers and online service providers. nCipher is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a TechMARK 100 company (LSE:NCH) with offices in Cambridge, UK; Boston, New York, Paris, Hamburg, and Tokyo. For more information on nCipher, visit www.ncipher.com.

About SSH Communications Security

SSH Communications Security, a world-leading supplier of Internet security solutions, offers a broad range of award-winning products designed to address the most critical security issues for businesses, financial institutions and governments worldwide. SSH SentinelTM, a feature-rich remote access VPN "smart" client, and SSH Secure Shell, the award-winning product family, ensure secure remote access and data transfer. SSH CertifierTM product family provides a robust certification authority for flexible and strong authentication through digital certificates and tokens. The market-leading, award- winning SSH IPSec family of toolkits for OEMs and software developers enables fast time-to-market and reduced in-house development costs. SSH is traded publicly on the Helsinki Exchange under HEX:SSH1V. For more information, please visit www.ssh.com.

© 2002 SSH Communications Security Corp. All rights reserved. ssh® is a registered trademark of SSH Communications Security Corp in the United States and in certain other jurisdictions. All other names and marks are property of their respective owners.