Data Fellows starts world-wide shipments of F-Secure SSH for Windows

ESPOO, Finland, 14 November 1996 - Data Fellows, a leader in computer security, started shipments of the Windows client for its popular F-Secure SSH software today. F-Secure SSH Client for Windows secures data transmissions between Windows clients and UNIX servers running F-Secure SSH for UNIX. With F-Secure SSH products, available today, US companies, as well as foreign companies, can set up a military-strength encryption and security solution between their branch offices, customers, vendors, and partners world-wide without being crippled by the US export restrictions.

F-Secure SSH has been available for UNIX environments since last spring. It has stood up to the challenges of the most demanding customers in tens of thousands of organizations throughout forty countries. The customer base of the product includes NASA, the Internet Security Center CERT, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, the US Air Force, and Lawrence Livermoore Laboratories.

"By encrypting interactive terminal and X-window sessions, eliminating plain-text passwords, and providing other services, SSH closes some of the most significant authentication and security vulnerabilities in our distributed computational environment," explains Wayne Schroeder, principal technologist and systems and security software specialist at the San Diego Supercomputer Center.

"F-Secure SSH has been the killer security application in UNIX environments. Now the same de-facto standard works in Windows clients. This means vast possibilities for growth in usage," says Risto Siilasmaa, Chief Executive Officer of Data Fellows.

F-Secure SSH secures popular TCP/IP services

F-Secure SSH software products provide strong encryption, cryptographic host authentication, and integrity protection for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX based computers.

F-Secure SSH Client for Windows replaces the TCP/IP terminal program telnet. Besides providing TCP/IP terminal connections, the client can secure data transmissions of popular TCP/IP based services like Internet mail and http traffic (Web connections).

Industry-leading strength of encryption and ease-of-use

F-Secure SSH products provide an unparalleled speed, strength of encryption, and ease-of-use. Their unmatched cryptographic features are:

• An innovative combination of two technologies -- At the beginning of a transmission, the client and server authenticate each other with the RSA™ public key technology, which removes the need for a centralized authentication server. For data transmissions, F-Secure uses fast symmetric encryption methods like IDEA™, 3DES, and Blowfish. The random shared key used in a symmetric encryption session is transferred in the RSA handshaking process. The innovative combination of technologies simultaneously provides speedy encrypted connections and removes problems in building global distributed systems
• Strong encryption -- The encryption keys are long enough, in RSA at least 1024 bits and in symmetric encryption at least 128 bits to provide strong security. Even the current global computing power could not break the F-Secure SSH encryption in a billion years
• No export limitations -- The products have been developed in Europe and thus do not fall under the US ITAR export regulations. F­Secure products can be used in every country where encryption is legal
• Pre-licensed algorithms -- F­Secure products are sold with pre-licensed patented encryption algorithms like RSA™, three-key 3DES and Blowfish, to provide the best possible security