F-Secure VPN+ offers worldwide strong security for all aspects of today’s networking

Helsinki, Finland, 19 March 1998 --– Data Fellows Ltd., a leading software development company known for its F-Secure anti-virus and cryptography products, has today introduced F-Secure VPN+, a complete security solution for all enterprise networking.

F-Secure VPN+ is the successor of the award winning F-Secure VPN, an encrypting router that enables one to build a virtual private network over the Internet using strong cryptographic security. Now the F-Secure VPN+ product family is going one step further by facilitating the security integration of small sites and independent workstations to the corporate network. The extended corporate network may include corporate sites, partners or distributors, remote offices and even laptops.

F-Secure VPN+ consists of three products: F-Secure VPN+ Gateway, F-Secure VPN+ Client (for the desktop), and F-Secure VPN+ Server. These components can be combined to build a variety of secure virtual private networks that cover all aspects of corporate networking. Such VPNs include the following:

- Business VPN+: provides a cost-effective security solution for intranet connections between corporate sites. In-corporate communication can be encrypted with powerful F-Secure VPN+ Gateways regardless of the network technology.

- Partner VPN+: offers strong authentication and filtering capabilities for extranet connections between an organization and its partners, subcontractors, or distributors. It keeps unwanted users out and facilitates secure communication no matter where the data goes to.

- Remote Office VPN+: supports telecommuting as a method of working. It is a scaleable and cost-effective solution for securing communication over the Internet for the Small Office and the Home Office.

- Traveling VPN+: secures the extension of the corporate network to employees on the road. Typical remote networking applications, such as email, or accessing corporate file servers, can be secured transparently.

- Service VPN+: is suitable for organizations offering systems management services. It ensures that only the authorized systems manager can access the remote system and that administration data cannot be seen or tampered with by unauthorized outsiders. Service VPN also provides Internet Service Providers with the opportunity to find new sources of revenue by offering VPN based services, or hybrid customer networks with VPN links. Its powerful management features help the operator in maintaining the customer network.

"Small and medium sized organizations don't need to wait any more," Mr. Jukka Kotovirta, Director of Sales from Data Fellows. "They are now able to build their own networks by using regular Internet connections combined with the F-Secure VPN+ security solutions. Large organizations can also utilize F-Secure VPN+ to extend their corporate network to sites outside the corporate domain."

F-Secure VPN+ is firewall and router independent, allowing for the building of extranets on top of existing infrastructures.

"The F-Secure VPN+ architecture is uniquely wide: it is compatible with all existing router and firewall solutions, and all major platforms," says Mr. Kotovirta. "For the end user, the strength of the product is its transparency. As F-Secure VPN+ operates at the OSI level 3, which is invisible at the application level, it does not require any changes to applications or their configurations."

The F-Secure VPN+ will be released in June-July 1998. F-Secure VPN+ Server will initially be available for Microsoft Windows NT and Sun Solaris. F-Secure VPN+ Gateway will operate in Windows NT and Solaris. F-Secure VPN+ Client will initially operate in Solaris, Windows NT 4 and Windows95. The products use the SSH and IPSec security protocols.