F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal

Encrypted tunneling solution secures remote working

HELSINKI, FINLAND - Data Fellows, the leading Internet security solutions provider, announced today a new version of their popular F-Secure SSH product, setting a new level of security for remote workers.

F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal enables secure remote working through the easy-to-access, but insecure Internet. The remote worker can access corporate data via any Internet Service Provider without revealing corporate secrets to possible eavesdroppers. This is good news for the corporate IT support which is having a hard time maintaining the corporate dial-up access server. Now a corporation only needs Internet access and F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal to provide remote working for the growing number of remote workers.

The remote worker can use e-mail, Internet browser, database tools and all the usual applications at home, on the road or in any place with Internet access. The big difference, though invisible to the remote worker, is that all data communication between the server in the office and the remote user is flowing through an encrypted tunnel.

F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal provides strong encryption of data and thus sets a new standard for secure remote working. Existing solutions like Cisco Systems L2F, IETF L2TP and firewalls don’t provide strong encryption and authentication, which makes these solutions insecure against eavesdropping and IP spoofing attacks. In addition to encrypted tunnels, F-Secure Tunnel&Terminal also provides secure terminal connections to UNIX hosts and secures UNIX X11 applications.

Ease of use

For the remote worker F-secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal means almost transparent corporate access. The remote worker only needs to click the icon on the desktop to launch the desired application (e-mail, Internet browser, database tool, etc.) The new automatic tunnel establishment function authenticates the user, automatically creates the encrypted tunnel and launches the application that connects to the remote computer.

The automatic deployment tool enables straightforward company-wide installation and updates.

Security architecture

F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal gives remote workers unmatched security using the SSH security protocol. The SSH protocol is currently being standardized by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) as an application-level security mechanism to be used in conjunction with Internet protocols. SSH is already widely used by security-conscious organizations around the world.

The F-Secure product line offers strong end-user authentication and encryption of any transferred data. Because the technologies are of European origin, they are not limited by U.S. export regulations. Internet Service Providers around the world can now add strong security to their product offering.

"Our F-Secure line of products guarantees ultimate security on the Internet. Now companies can use the Internet as a serious business tool without the fear of compromising their corporate assets because of any lack of security", explains Mr. Olli Voima, Product Manager of F-Secure SSH. "Also private Internet users will benefit from this development."

The authentication of users connecting to the company network is done with cryptography, making management and access control much easier to arrange on a large scale. Secure access to the company network can be achieved from any Internet connection or through any other network . In addition to cryptography, the F-Secure products use data compression to speed up slow dial-in connections and to save significantly on Internet access costs.

"Internet users will immediately benefit from F-Secure products. And the emerging concept of ‘extranets’ between companies cannot launch safely without strong authentication and encryption mechanisms", concludes Mr. Voima.

Pricing, platforms, and availability

F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal client is priced at $99 and server at $495. Volume discounts further reduce the price per client or per server.

F-Secure SSH Tunnel&Terminal is available for win3.1, win95, winNT and UNIX operating systems worldwide in the end of July, 1997.

F-Secure product family background

F-Secure means industry standard cryptography from Data Fellows. The F-Secure product family consists of solutions from Data Fellows for the protection of sensitive Windows and UNIX communications and data.

The F-Secure product line was introduced in April 1996 with the launch of F-Secure SSH. F-Secure SSH secures TCP/IP terminal communications in UNIX and Windows environments. The F-Secure family has since been extended by F-Secure SSH for Macintosh, F-Secure VPN for connecting multiple local area networks into secure virtual private network over the Internet, F-Secure Commerce for securing electronic commerce on Internet, F-Secure Intranet for securing web-based communication in companies and F-Secure Desktop for protecting data on PC computers.