NetManage & Cylink In Internet Encryption Deal Guildford, Surrey, England, Oct 5 -- NetManage, a TCP/IP specialist company, has signed a licensing deal with Cylink Corporation. NetManage says the Cylink public key cryptography technology will be incorporated in future editions of NetManage's Internet applications software. The move is significant since it marks the beginnings of a competitor to the Netscape "secure" Web browsing software, which has had two security flaws identified in recent weeks. Initially, NetManage's Chameleon Enterprise TCP/IP applications suite will incorporate the Cylink public key encryption technology, and later will include encryption facilities in Internet Chameleon, a UKP139 PC-Windows access suite designed for dial-up access to the Internet. Both NetManage and Cylink plan to support an open interface for Internet security which addresses the flaws found in Netscape. The idea is to establish an open set of standards to which Internet access packages of all types will adhere to, and so ensure that companies developing Internet software do not "re-invent the wheel" when writing their software, and possibly open their applications up to flaws. According to NetManage, establishing a secure Internet connection requires an Internet application to perform two functions: authenticating the user, and encrypting the data flow. The link with Cylink will allow NetManage to license and include the Cylink public key encryption technology in its applications with a variety of ciphering systems to be used in the NetManage suite, including: DES, Triple DES, Safer, IDEA, Skipjack, RC-2, and RC-4. NetManage claims the current implementations of security proposed as standards by Netscape and RSA Data Security are flawed, and fail to fully accommodate "open and interoperable secure communications" between computers which use different bulk encryption ciphers. These problems, the company claims, have limited the adoption of Internet security as a widespread interoperable feature of all Internet software and hardware products, including end-user applications, servers, firewalls, and secure routers. Later this month, NetManage and Cylink plan to announce a next-generation "plug and play" Internet encryption system. The implementation will be open and will not lock software or hardware developers into the use of encryption technology from any one vendor, as is the case with Netscape, say the companies. The related APIs, key exchange technology, and encryption, will be made publicly available to other software and hardware vendors. Licensing will include source code and no per-copy royalty fees. Further information can be downloaded from NetManage's World Wide Web site at <http://www.netmanage.com>. Contact: NetManage Europe, +44-1483-302333; NetManage US, 408-973-7171.