This is a copy of the C2Net Press Release from 25 Nov 1996
Oakland, CA -- C2Net and UK Web, Ltd., announced today the beta release of a new product, "SafePassage Web Proxy." International users of popular web browsers such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer can use SafePassage to make secure web connections using full-strength cryptography. Prior to this release, international users of these browsers had to use weak cryptography, which could be easily broken.
"SafePassage is the perfect complement to our Stronghold web server," said Mark Cox, Stronghold Product Manager for UK Web. "we've been marketing the international version of Stronghold with full strength cryptography for two months now, but we knew we would need matching strong cryptography on the browser side as well. SafePassage Web Proxy answers this need."
SafePassage provides secure connections using strong cryptography for any browser that supports standard SSL tunneling. It currently runs on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.
"We don't believe in using codes so weak that foreign governments, criminals or bored college students can break them," said C2Net President Sameer Parekh, "we also oppose plans to put all your cryptography keys in a few places, where they can be sold to the highest bidder by traitors like Aldrich Ames, or recent suspect Harold J. Nicholson."
Current "export" versions of Netscape and MSIE use a weak cipher that has been broken by online groups, such as the "Cypherpunks." Companies like HP and IBM, bowing to government pressure, have been promoting seemingly innocuous "key recovery" plans that would require centralized key storage and easy government access to -- or abuse of -- cryptography keys.
Beta versions of SafePassage can be downloaded at no cost from UK Web's site at: http://stronghold.ukweb.com/safepassage. It is currently unavailable for distribution within the US and Canada, but a domestic version will be made available in the near future.
The final release will be free for personal, educational, or other non-commercial use; for information on site licenses and bundling, send e-mail to safepassage@c2.net; or by phone, contact Douglas Barnes at +1 510 986 8773, or Dave Williams at +44 113 222 0046.
UK Web Limited is a leading Internet services company specialising in server technology, Internet security, business solutions and effective site design.
C2Net is the leading provider of uncompromising security on the Internet. C2Net provides a wide array of Internet privacy services and powerful network security software.
Netscape Navigator and Netscape Enterprise are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Internet Information Server are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Stronghold and SafePassage are trademarks of C2Net.
