VPN News Briefs - January 26, 2000

Contents

• Cisco Gobbles Competitors
• Frame Relay VPNs to Be Deployed
• Secure Wireless VPNs On the Way
• Integrating QoS with IPsec VPNs
• Expanded PKI Support for Secure VPNs

Lisa Phifer
VP Core Competence, Inc.

Cisco Acquires VPN Vendors Altiga Networks, Compatible Systems
On January 19, 2000, Cisco Systems announced plans to acquire a pair of players in the emerging VPN market: Altiga Networks and Compatible Systems.

Altiga has been receiving strong reviews in the remote access VPN market. Altiga VPN Concentrators pair with a variety of desktop clients: Altiga's own IPSec VPN Client, Microsoft's PPTP VPN Adapter, and the new Windows 2000 L2TP over IPSec. By focusing on high-performance remote access, Altiga enables secure teleworker connections over residential broadband. Newly-announced C15, C30 and C60 products use Altiga's Scalable Encryption Processing (SEP) to double speeds offered by earlier VPN Concentrators. Cisco will integrate Altiga into its enterprise business product line.

Compatible Systems markets the MicroRouter (a line of VPN-enabled Internet access routers) and the IntraPort (a line of VPN-enabled access servers). Compatible's IntraPort Carrier targets network service providers seeking to deploy IPSec over standard dial-up, ISDN, xDSL, and cable modems. Compatible's own IntraPort Client is available for Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Power Macintosh, Linux, and Sun Solaris. Cisco plans to integrate Compatible Systems into its service provider product line.
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PSINet Selects Ennovate's Envoy 1600 For Next Generation Network-Based VPN
In mid-December, Ennovate Networks announced that PSINet will deploy the Envoy 1600 IP Services Switch and VPN 21000 Service Provisioning System to support delivery of next-generation network-based VPNs.

According to Nav Chander, Director of Marketing for Ennovate, the PSINet agreement is a big win for both parties. With 800 POPs supporting nearly 70 percent of the point-of-sale transactions made in the US today, PSINet represents a challenging, high-visibility proving ground for Ennovate. By choosing Envoy as the edge platform for its next-generation network, PSINet will leverage Envoy's simultaneous Frame Relay and IP switching capabilities to offer new differentiated services. The VPN 21000's unique routing protocols create a "virtual services layer" that enables self-announcement of VPN access points, reducing configuration overhead. Ensight management tools further automate the service creation process.

Ennovate is among a small, emerging group of vendors focusing on network-based VPNs, eliminating CPE from the VPN equation -- an idea that sounds attractive to large network service providers. But Ennovate differs in its focus on delivering an evolutionary path for today's Frame Relay service providers. Envoy VPN will enforce authentication and QoS for business-to-business connections carved out of shared service provider bandwidth. However, Ennovate does not see a real need for encryption in this business-to-business market because traffic is not relayed over the Internet.
Related article: Network-Based VPN Platforms
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VeriSign's Global Affiliate Network To Deliver Wireless Internet Trust Services
Earlier this week, VeriSign announced a suite of new services and alliances engineered to secure wireless Internet transactions. Could PKI-authenticated, SSL-encrypted wireless messaging be the remote access VPN of the future?

VeriSign's initiative includes a Wireless Personal Trust Agent, short-lived certificates for wireless servers, gateway-assisted SSL connections for authentication and encryption, and a network-enabled public key infrastructure. Members of VeriSign's Global Affiliate Network -- a group of over 20 international service providers -- have voiced their support for delivering interoperable trust services over the Internet using VeriSign's new platform.

"VPN Tech anticipates rapid adoption of wireless PKI by its large installed base of mobile users," said Claude Perreault, president of Canadian affiliate VPN Tech, Inc. "Our customers have expressed a desire for a trusted infrastructure to service the wireless Internet, VeriSign's innovation in this regard will stimulate the growth of electronic commerce."

According to Gregg Rowley, Managing Director of Australian affiliate eSign, "Mobile phones are both an ideal way for consumers to utilize many Web services and a convenient device for the storage and use of digital certificates. These new wireless trust services from VeriSign are the 'missing link' needed to enable secure and convenient consumer e-commerce transactions such as such as e-banking and e-brokering."
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RADGUARD and Allot To Offer Integrated QoS For IPSec VPNs
On January 18, 2000, RADGUARD announced a strategic alliance with Allot Communicationsand two new product releases: the cIPro-VPN 4.1 and cIPro-client 2.3.

The new cIPro-VPN 4.1 supports traffic prioritization by using standard Type of Service (TOS) flags to carry QoS information in IPSec-encrypted packets. Encryption otherwise obscures IP address and port fields traditionally used for traffic shaping. TOS can be used by downstream devices like Allot's NetEnforcer family of products. RADGUARD and Allot will combine the two companies' products into an integrated package that provides both IPSec VPN and QoS solutions.

RADGUARD also added Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) user authentication to its latest releases, and will partner with Softech Telecom to develop billing and accounting capabilities for IPSec-based remote access VPNs. [Return to Contents]

TimeStep Secure VPN from Newbridge Networks Expands PKI Support
On January 11, 2000, Newbridge Networks ( announced enhancements to TimeStep's Secure VPN products to support multiple public key infrastructures (PKIs).

TimeStep Secure VPN is now compatible with the following PKIs: Baltimore UniCERT, GTE CyberTrust, Sun-Netscape Certificate Management System, RSA Security Keon, VeriSign OnSite, and Xcert Sentry CA. By supporting multiple PKI vendor solutions, Newbridge intends to facilitate integration of VPN products with existing PKI infrastructures. "PKIs are essential to building large-scale VPNs," says Newbridge Networks VP Tim Hember. "By implementing standards-based support for multiple PKI vendors, Newbridge is reinforcing its commitment to meeting the needs of service providers and other customers with large-scale applications."
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