News

SSH Communications Security (HEX:SSH1V), a world-leading developer of Internet security solutions, today announced SSH Sentinel™ 1.3, a new release of its groundbreaking VPN (Virtual Private Network) client software that provides easy and flexible IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) for network communications. SSH Sentinel 1.3 increases remote access flexibility and advances interoperability, giving end users seamless connectivity to the network from any location, along with support for the most widely used PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) solutions.

“The ability for companies to enable their employees to safely work from remote locations has become a requirement in today’s Web- enabled world," said Tatu Ylönen, founder and CEO of SSH Corp."However, the challenges to provide secure remote access continue to plague organizations of all sizes. SSH’s latest release of its Sentinel solution features breakthrough technology enhancements that make secure VPN connectivity from anywhere a reality for users. Companies can now leverage existing network investments because SSH Sentinel can easily interoperate within their current infrastructure."

An example of this interoperability is the recent certification of SSH Sentinel 1.3 as"RSA Secured™ RSA Keon® Ready," signaling its compatibility with RSA Security’s digital certificate management software. According to Robert Pritchard, vice president of worldwide developer sales, corporate and partner development at RSA Security,"SSH has long been recognized for its strong encryption technology, and we are pleased to join forces with them to help eliminate the high risk associated with Internet access, whether employees are working from the office, home or any remote location."

New features of SSH Sentinel 1.3 include:

• “Local-like" Access Remotely with Virtual IP Addresses - SSH Sentinel 1.3 uses industry-first"virtual IP addressing" to ensure smooth integration with the remote network by causing the operating system to behave as if the user was actually at the home site.
  
• Interoperability with Existing VPNs - The new solution supports the most commonly used protocols in IP networking, including DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) over IPSec, L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol) used in Microsoft VPN solutions, and IKE (Internet Key Exchange) used by Cisco, as well as a manual setting capability for organizations that do not use these protocols in their gateway.
  
• Access from Virtually Anywhere with NAT (Network Address Translation) Traversal Support - A breakthrough technology developed by SSH, NAT Traversal enables IPSec to operate in environments where network equipment performs NAT operations on IP packets in firewalls, routers and VPN systems - ensuring end-to- end security.
• Easy Authentication with Hardware Tokens and Smart Cards - SSH Sentinel 1.3 includes support for industry-accepted PKI protocols PKCS#15 and PKCS#11 to ensure that organizations can cost-effectively expand their PKI infrastructure independent of any specific vendor. The new VPN client software also leverages SSH Accession for integrated, strong, easy-to-use smart card authentication to secure Internet applications such as e-mail and Web browsing from end users’ notebooks or desktop PCs.
  

About SSH Sentinel 1.3

SSH Sentinel 1.3 incorporates a range of advanced features and technologies into a solution, which is intuitive both to the end user and administrator. SSH Sentinel offers strong encryption and certificate or PSK- (Pre-Shared Key) based authentication, local LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) capability for retrieving certificates, CRLs (Certificate Revocation Lists) with online certificate enrollment support and Centralized Policy Management. In addition, SSH Sentinel is capable of establishing a secured host-to-host connection with strong authentication independent of a complex PKI. SSH Sentinel takes full advantage of certificate-based authentication and PKI with full support for all IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) IPSec standards. SSH Sentinel is an interoperable solution, ideal for uses such as remote access, file transfer, e-mail, Web browsing, messaging, and IP telephony in VPNs, Internet access, whether employees are working from the office, home or any remote location."

A Beta evaluation copy of SSH Sentinel 1.3 is available now for download from www.ssh.com. The full commercial version of SSH Sentinel will be available for purchase in April.

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's award-winning remote access software, SSH Secure Shell, the de facto standard for secure remote access and data transfer, and SSH Sentinel™, a feature-rich remote access VPN "smart" client are ideal solutions for securing wireline and wireless networks. The SSH Certifier™ 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 Exchanges 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.