Thursday, 1 July 2004 19:54 EST

RALEIGH -- CipherOptics Inc. today announced that its encryption technology has earned the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 level 2 certification (cert # 373). The CipherOptics' SG1001 encryption appliance now meets the government's requirement for FIPS- validated products for securing network data and applications.
The FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certification is awarded to products after thorough testing by an accredited independent laboratory. It is a benchmark used by government agencies as well as corporations implementing secure applications to determine which products offer robust, standardized protection.

"As a trusted IT leader and premier provider of IT solutions for government clients, Northrop Grumman Information Technology understands FIPS 140-2 certification is a prerequisite to deliver encryption solutions to government agencies," said Timothy Winters, Senior Alliance Manager Security Products & Services with Northrop Grumman.

The CipherOptics SG1001 is a high-performance network security appliance that provides encryption for the secure transmission of IP data, using IP security (IPSec), over non-secure wired or wireless networks. The SG1001 is the only IPSec encryption appliance available that offers full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet wire-speed throughput without slowing down network data transfer.

"The FIPS 140 Level 2 certification gives our customers confidence that CipherOptics' technology will protect all sensitive data with the highest level of performance," said Ronald Willis, CipherOptics President and Chief Executive Officer. "Validation of the CipherOptics Security Gateway against FIPS 140 requirements under the Cryptographic Module Validation Program, also allows our System Integration partners to design the product into their solutions for this market."

CipherOptics' SG1001 encryption appliance underwent a series of rigorous tests conducted by DOMUS IT Security laboratory, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) accredited testing laboratory. The FIPS 140 validation established by NIST uses accredited laboratories to perform tests of cryptographic modules. The tests include reviews of design, documentation, interfaces, services, algorithms, key management and physical packaging of the device. The CipherOptics SG1001 met or exceeded all of these criteria.

About CipherOptics

CipherOptics designs, manufactures and sells market-leading encryption appliances to secure information traveling over high-speed communication networks, storage area networks and communications service provider (CSP) network cores.

The CipherOptics family of encryption appliances is the only field-proven, government-certified solution available that encrypts data at full Gigabit line-rates with minimal latency for transmission over non-secure wired or wireless networks. In mission-critical applications at financial institutions, federal government/Homeland Security, and global enterprises, we enable organizations to completely secure all data communications while maximizing broadband network capacities at a very affordable cost -- all with minimal complexity and ease of installation.

Privately-held CipherOptics is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2003, the company closed $12.4 million in Series B funding from Kodiak Venture Partners, Origin Partners L.P., Axiom Venture Partners L.P. and New Tampa Technologies L.L.C. For more information about CipherOptics please go to the company website at http://www.cipheroptics.com/ .

About DOMUS IT

DOMUS IT Security Laboratory is a unit of IBM Canada LTD and has over a decade of experience testing and evaluating products for cryptographic and security functionality.

For more information about DOMUS IT Security Laboratory please go to http://www.domusitsl.com/.