RSA Announces New Version of TIPEM

RSA Announces New Version of TIPEM Software Developer's Kit, Toolkit Bridges Commercial and Internet Encryption Standards

NOVEMBER 1, 1993 -- REDWOOD CITY, CA -- RSA Data Security today shipped TIPEM version 1.1, a new release of RSA's Toolkit for Interoperable Privacy-Enhanced Messaging. The upgrade includes several new modules which allow developers to create applications that comply to the Internet Privacy-Enhanced Mail (PEM) standards, as well as the commercial Public Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) established by vendors including Lotus, Apple, Novell and Microsoft. The toolkit, which has been used for major communications security development projects such as Apple's Open Collaboration Environment, allows software developers to easily add RSA public key encryption and authentication features to any mail, mail-enabled or messaging-based application.

"The crystallization of Internet PEM earlier this year was the most eagerly awaited security standards project of the decade," said Jim Bidzos, President of RSA Data Security. "The PEM specs, together with the Public Key Cryptography Standards developed a few years ago with the cooperation of the domestic computer industry, mean that interoperable, standardized cryptography has really and truly arrived."

The Public Key Cryptography Standards, or PKCS, were developed in 1991 by a consortium of RSA and several of RSA's major licensees, including Microsoft, Lotus, Apple and Novell.

Mr Bidzos continued, "It's important to remember that Internet PEM is an international standard -- developers all over the world are using it right now. And now that there is such a standard that everyone can follow when writing their applications, all those applications can interoperate in a secure fashion - and the easiest way to build those applications is with TIPEM 1.1. The Internet PEM standards have essentially made the State Department's outdated export controls moot."

The United States government still has not published a standard for public key encryption or digital signatures, and their current proposals, namely the "Clipper Chip" and DSS, have received a cool reception from the commercial and academic sectors. Standards in the field of cryptography are usually developed by the U.S. Government, so it is significant that two independent groups - the commercial PKCS Consortium and the largely academic, non-profit Internet community - has taken the initiative. Some have suggested that the government's "foot-dragging" on standards in the field of public-key cryptography is due at least in part to the unprecedented effectiveness of the technology itself: the RSA system that presents such a formidable barrier to corporate spies and hackers might also keep out U.S. intelligence-gathering organizations such as the NSA and the FBI.

Applications developed with TIPEM can communicate securely with other PKCS and PEM-compliant applications. One such application is Apple Computer's soon-to-be-released System 7 Open Collaborative Environment (AOCE), also developed with TIPEM. Other secure commercial applications developed with TIPEM include Datamedia's SECURExchange, and BLOC Development's F3 Forms Automation system. Hundreds of other secure applications that adhere to PEM and PKCS will be available from commercial sources and independent developers on the Internet within the year.

TIPEM is available for DOS, Windows, Macintosh, OS/2, Sun OS and Solaris platforms. Source code and ports to other platforms are also available.

TIPEM 1.1 is available for $290, or $950 for a ten-user version. Owners of previous versions of TIPEM may upgrade for $99.

Cited in standards such as ISO, CCITT and Internet Privacy-Enhanced Mail specifications, RSA is a worldwide defacto standard for data privacy and authentication, and is widely regarded as the most secure encryption and authentication technique commercially available. RSA Data Security, Inc. develops and markets software developer's toolkits and end-user products for cryptography, with several products based around the patented RSA Public Key Cryptosystem. RSA licensees include IBM, Apple Computer, DEC, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Novell, Lotus, Motorola, Northern Telecom, AT&T, WordPerfect, General Electric and many others. Founded in 1982 by the inventors of the RSA cryptosystem, the company is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

TIPEM, PKCS and the RSA logo are trademarks of RSA Data Security, Inc.