Voltage Security™ Announces First End-to-End Security Solution for Corporate Instant Messaging Beyond the Firewall

Voltage SecureIM for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 Secures Sensitive Messages Flowing To and From the Enterprise

HostReview.com
Monday, February 16, 2004; 12:00 AM

Palo Alto, CA--February 16th, 2004-- Voltage Security, Inc., provider of secure multi-channel business communication solutions, today announced Voltage SecureIM(TM), the first-ever information security solution that delivers powerful usability combined with end-to-end content security for instant messaging inside and outside the enterprise firewall. Also announced was endorsement by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) of Voltage SecureIM support for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 enterprise instant messaging (IM) and presence capabilities.

Up until today, secure instant messaging has been limited to session security only which doesn't address customer requirements such as strong authentication to identify users, encrypted archival of content, and true end-to-end security. Voltage SecureIM goes beyond securing the instant messaging session to digitally signing and encrypting all content being exchanged. This means that customers can be confident that they are meeting stringent compliance requirements while still having the flexibility of real-time presence built into key business applications.

"Enterprise customers, particularly in real-time industries such as financial services and healthcare, need urgency, convenience and security in their communication," said Sathvik Krishnamurthy, president and CEO of Voltage Security, Inc. "Now all end-to-end security for email, IM and files can be managed under a single policy framework. Our goal is to bring content security to all the leading instant messaging systems, and to all the channels of communication within the enterprise."

"High levels of security are essential for instant messaging within the enterprise," said Gurdeep Singh Pall, general manager, Real Time Collaboration, Microsoft Corporation. "Low cost-of-ownership, ease-of-deployment and end-user transparency are values offered by Voltage SecureIM that we feel will appeal to our Microsoft Office Live Communications Server customers, especially in the financial services and government arenas."

"Bringing the powerful combination of ease-of-use and security provided by IBE to instant messaging is a breakthrough," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO 2004. "It has been impossible to reach customers and partners over instant messaging with full end-to-end content level security. Now, with Voltage SecureIM, which is designed to integrate into leading enterprise instant messaging solutions, we can expect an even faster adoption rate for instant messaging in the enterprise and even the most sensitive information can be sent quickly and securely to customers and others."

Voltage SecureIM is the first solution to provide this level of end-to-end security combined with new levels of usability, making it possible for corporations to exchange sensitive data with customers and partners via instant messaging.

Voltage SecureIM contains the following features:

• Support for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 enabling corporations to use instant messaging to communicate quickly and securely, with both internal users and external users such as customers, vendors and business partners.
• Digital signatures to provide an authenticated audit trail so that the user is assured of both data and sender integrity. This is particularly important for the exchange of "high-value", time-sensitive information such as banking, financial and mortgage information, insurance and medical data, and classified government information.
• Security at the content level so that all communication is encrypted in audit logs and archives.
• Built on a single integrated platform for secure multi-channel business communication, enabling easy yet secure exchange of private information across email, files and instant messaging.

Voltage SecureIM is based on Identity-Based Encryption (IBE), a fundamental breakthrough in usability and security, which enables enterprise users, for the first time, to engage in secure anytime, anywhere business communication. IBE uses simple identities, such as an email, phone number or IP address, to secure all kinds of business communication. IBE alleviates the need for cumbersome pre-enrollment procedures and certificate management typically required by traditional public key systems.

Voltage SecureIM Applications
Instant messaging in the enterprise is commonly used for real-time, urgent communication where email is perceived to be to slow or not immediately accessed by the recipient. For instance, a director of finance at a large corporation may want to know the end-of-day balance of the corporate cash account. The fastest way to attain this figure is to send an instant message to the bank director of treasury who handles the cash account. But, because of federal security regulations, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the responding data can only be sent via a secure channel. Now, with Voltage SecureIM, this "high-value" communication exchange can be completed quickly, easily and securely.

The sending and receiving of patient medical, insurance and billing information within the healthcare industry are additional applications requiring, due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and federal privacy regulations, information security. For instance, a physician's office may need an insurance authorization prior to beginning an emergency procedure. Now, the office staff can easily send a Voltage SecureIM to the insurance desk requesting and receiving authorization, securely, within a matter of seconds.

Voltage SecureIM and Voltage SecurePolicy Suite
Voltage SecureIM works with the administration features provided through the Voltage SecurePolicy Suite(TM) and complements Voltage SecureMail(TM) and Voltage SecureFile(TM). Today, Voltage SecureIM supports Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 and features a downloadable agent that sits on top of Windows Messenger 5.0.2. In the future, additional enterprise IM servers will be supported.

About Demo 2004
The annual DEMO and DEMOmobile conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products, which are hand-selected by executive producer Chris Shipley from across the spectrum of the personal technology marketplace. Top executives from the leading hardware and software technology companies, venture capitalists, journalists from key industry publications and industry analysts attend the DEMO and DEMOmobile conferences to preview the most promising products and technologies for the coming year. DEMO is held in February each year and features approximately 60 new companies, products and technologies. DEMOmobile is held each fall and features approximately 35 new mobile technologies. For more information, visit http://www.demo.com/.

About Voltage Security
Voltage Security, Inc. is a leading provider of secure multi-channel business communication solutions based on a revolutionary breakthrough called Identity-Based Encryption or IBE. Voltage Security’s mission is to use identity to bring confidence to business communication. Voltage solutions secure business communication by making anytime, anywhere communication easy to use and painless to deploy. The Voltage SecurePolicy Suite™, Voltage SecureMail™ and Voltage SecureFile™, are commercially available today, with solutions for instant messaging and web services forthcoming. Voltage serves leading enterprise customers and regulated industry segments such as financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and government. For more information on Voltage Security and to learn more about IBE, please visit www.voltage.com.

Voltage SecurePolicy Suite, Voltage SecurePolicy Service, Voltage SecureMail, Voltage SecureFile, and Voltage IBE Developer Toolkit are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Voltage Security, Inc. All other product names and trademarks are the property of their owner.