F-Secure VPN Protects Nexor's Remote Management Connections

Reliable and cost-effective solution for the security problems of the Internet
15 August, 1997

Nexor System Service, an intensively communication-oriented company, has implemented the Data Fellows F-Secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) for full production use, using F-Secure VPN to encrypt connections to its customers. By using F-Secure VPN, Nexor is able to manage computer systems and networks, remotely yet securely, over inexpensive Internet connections.

"F-Secure VPN gives new momentum to the remote management business. It dramatically shrinks the initial investment needed for outsourcing systems or network management. At the same time, thanks to F-Secure VPN, remaining outsourcing takes much less time," Nexor's Marketing Manager Jussi Partanen says.

Partanen says that the price of setting up Internet connections for remote management is only a small fraction of the costs of setting up traditional leased line based connections. "And the price of F-Secure VPN is very competitive. We have calculated that our investment in F-Secure VPNs pays itself back in 6-10 months."

VPN Router Lets the Remote Manager IN
-- Keeps Hackers OUT

For remote management, Nexor personnel can connect from the Nexor network to customer networks and systems, through the Internet and the customer's VPN router. At both ends of the remote management connection, F-Secure VPN routers authenticate Nexor and customer users, then encrypt and compress data transferred.

No outsider can access the customer network or even detect the network addresses used. This protection against hackers and other unauthorized users is based on practical strong encryption, which can never be compromised.

"The use of the Internet in business communication and operations brings ever-increasing interest from our customers. The Internet, however, is plagued by weak security, which prevents interested companies from using it more efficiently and confidently. F-Secure VPN is an easy, cost-effective, fast and complete solution to this problem," Partanen says.

Nexor System Service is the largest independent Finnish information systems company, offering support, expertise, and services, and employing over 110 IT experts located at 11 offices covering all of Finland. The fiscal year 1996 revenues of the company were more than 36 million Finnish markka (more than 7 million US dollars).

F-Secure VPN Architecture

F-Secure encrypts TCP/IP packets "on the fly" for transport over the Internet or any intranet, cooperating with any installed base of routers and firewalls. It also provides the most powerful encryption available, including RSA, triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) and Blowfish. Further, F-Secure compresses data, authenticates other encryption servers, and performs distributed key management.

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.