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A Comprehensive
Concept

Bull launches Secure Office: A Comprehensive Concept for IT-security

Secure Office, launched by Integris Sweden, Bull’s security division, is an integrated family of products that secures workstations/servers and provides secure access to a company’s internal network both from the local workplace and remotely across the Internet. It includes network encryption, PKI-based log-in and personalization of Electronic ID cards (EID cards). The entire product line is based on established industry standards, among them the new European standard, PKCS#15. This regulation was written into European law as of January 1, 2001, to provide the guidelines for legally-binding electronic agreements over the Internet through the use of Electronic ID cards and digital signatures.

“Bull is one of the pioneers in IT security. Today, we supply a full range of products in this area. We provide consultancy for analysis of security levels and security needs, standardized security products under the Secure Office product name, and specific solutions for customers with special requirements,” says Christer Öberg, business manager with Integris Sweden.

Secure Office includes the following products, among others:
Bullwark. Bullwark guarantees that only authorised users can log-in to the company’s IT system. After log-in, the users authorisation is determined by roles. Since 60-80% of all computer crime occurs from within the organisation’s own walls, it is of crucial importance to securely regulate user access to the company’s IT system and the information within it. For ease of use (which translates to personnel not trying to avoid it), Secure Office supports Single Sign On and authentication via standard EID smart card. The smart cards can be purchased from a public vendor such as the Post Office and Telia (in Sweden) or produced independently by the organisation (at considerable savings) with Secure Office Persys, a combined Certification Authority and EID card generator.

Kryptonet. Kryptonet protects the company’s network and prevents unauthorized access to servers and workstations through advanced encryption. The encrypted network makes it possible to use the Internet and other public networks to communicate sensitive information securely at enormous savings compared to private leased lines.
Kryptonet offers up to 100 Mbit/s encryption, support for IPSec/ESP, built-in crypto-support for WIN95, WIN 98, WIN 2000, and NT4 platforms, support for multiple simultaneous encryption algorithms, and a fourth generation VPN administration program. The administration offers precision access control over resources (systems, applications and users). Security groups can be created and resources can be dragged to a group, inheriting all the access rights of the group automatically.

Persys. Persys enables an organisation to create and administer Electronic ID cards (smart cards) for its own users. Independent smart card production avoids the security risk of trusting critical private keys to a third party and allows a company to make cards immediately rather than waiting for delivery. EID cards are independently created at about half the price of a public vendor like the Post Office. A built-in Certificate Authority creates an X.509 certificate which is stored together with the users private key on the smart card.
Persys prepares the cards that a company needs to use Public Key Infrastructure for security and e-commerce. PKI is a technique that enables the encryption and signing of electronic information. The technique is based on RSA keys. These are 2 different (asymmetrical) keys. One key is public (available to anyone). It can be stored on a network or in a public directory. The other one is private (not even the user knows it) and stored on a smart card. Data that is encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted by the user who has the corresponding private key.