Windows 2000 Finds Security Under ‘Rainbow’

E-commerce security solutions provider Rainbow Technologies, Inc. announced at the formal launch of Microsoft Windows 2000 in San Francisco, California that key components of its product line will support both the new Windows 2000 platform and the Windows 2000 Smart Card architecture.

The move, which comes on the heels of several high profile hacker-related attacks on e-commerce sites, will make Rainbow’s iKey 1000 authentication token and CryptoSwift eCommerce acceleration security solutions available to those adopting the Windows 2000 business computing OS package.

“Microsoft takes security very seriously,” stated Bruce Burns, director of developer relations group for Microsoft. “We believe Rainbow’s iKey delivers an outstanding solution for all common security requirements which will benefit our mutual customers through the Windows 2000 authentication system.”

Security in the Age of E-Commerce

The CryptoSwift eCommerce accelerator product, which will support Windows 2000 server environments, works with public-key cryptography through secure socket layer (SSL) and other security protocols. The product contains a public key math processor that is designed to accelerate the operations of a secure Web server’s main processor.

The iKey 1000 product, which supports Windows 2000 enterprise, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) applications, is designed to store digital certificates, generate public keys and perform digital signatures. Additionally, the iKey Software Development Kit (SDK) will allow users to create Windows 2000 compatible PKI applications.

About Rainbow

Rainbow recently joined the newly formed PKI Forum, an industry-led coalition to accelerate the adoption of PKI-based security. The company will join the 15 other companies that are currently involved in the consortium, including Baltimore Technologies, Cisco, Entrust, HP, Microsoft and RSA Security.

The company, which was established in 1984, releases a range of Internet and e-commerce related products, including PKI-based security solutions, secure Web server and VPN acceleration boards, USB-based authentication tokens, and voice, data and satellite security systems.

Have We Seen the Worst?

In other e-commerce security news, Dr. Aharon Friedman, network security consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and chairman of Fortress Technologies, Inc., recently commented that the recent wave of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks was nothing more than a small taste of what is ahead for U.S.-based e-commerce operations.

“E-commerce sites should prepare their networks as if they’re going to war,” declared Friedman.

“You can be certain that many hostile groups have taken note of how vulnerable U.S. commerce is to cyber attack,” added Friedman, observing that the most secure option available for online businesses involves adding network layer protection.

The entire global Internet is run on a multi-layered communication network of systems and protocols. Many attacks occur at the fiber or wire-based physical layer, making it advisable to mount a defense at that layer — the network layer.

According to Friedman, most e-commerce operations have security solutions installed in the wrong places, leaving them vulnerable. Security applied at the network layer, he contends, can add protection that makes every computer and all traffic on the Internet invisible to potential attackers.