Sun's Security Plan: Integrated Features<

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January 12, 1998, Issue: 697
Section: News & Analysis

Sun's Security Plan: Integrated Features

Rutrell Yasin

Sun Microsystems is making diversity and economy the cornerstones of its new secure business network strategy.

The first phase of the strategy, to be unveiled this week at the RSA conference in San Francisco, calls for bundling firewall, remote access and server security applications into a software package called SunScreen Secure Net.

Included in the SunScreen Secure Net package are new versions of SunScreen EFS 2.0, SunScreen SKIP, and Sun Security Manager 4.4. The company also will provide users with a variety of new service options through its Global Security Consulting and Integration Services unit, according to Walt O'Malley, senior product marketing manager for security at Sun.

SunScreen EFS 2.0 sports new high availability features and faster performance, as well as a Java-based graphical user interface, which make it easier to manage networked firewalls. The new version of SunScreen SKIP-Sun's authentication, encryption and key management application for intranets and extranets-provides client cryptography for Windows 95 and Windows NT systems. The bundling of Security Manager into Secure Net gives users built-in server protection.

Sun's pack-aging of a firewall, IP encryption and security manager into a bundled solution for less than $10,000 will be attractive to many Solaris users, said Michael Zboray, a Gartner Group analyst.

The bottom line is Sun is enhancing its tools "to keep Solaris safe," he added.

There's a major shift in howcompanies perceive security, said O'Malley. Companies no longer look at firewalls as "the traffic cop at the perimeter" of the network. Instead, companies want to secure their entire infrastructure, he said.

To address this demand, Sun plans to embed security software into the Solaris operating environment so security will be a feature of every Solaris server by mid-1998. By year's end, Sun will announce the integration of security technology with the Solstice network management system and Sun's Internet directory, O'Malley said.

Sun is responding to the growing demand for platform vendors, such as Cisco and Microsoft, to include security in their hardware and software offerings, said Chris Tolles, director of marketing for Internet commerce and security at Sun.

Each company has its set of challenges, he added. Cisco has to move to the client level, Microsoft beyond the desktop and Sun into router security.

SunScreen Secure Net will be available in March on Solaris, Sparc or Intel systems and supports Windows 95 clients and Windows NT network nodes. SunScreen Secure Net for Workgroups with 100 nodes costs $2,999; SunScreen Secure Net for unlimited nodes costs $9,995.