Nanoteq, the security technology subsidiary of Comparex Holdings, has demonstrated for the first time in South Africa its new CSP (cryptographic service provider) technology to a large local bank. The CSP will provide plug-in hardware and software security services into the evolving Windows NT infrastructures in modern banks.
Nanoteq`s goal throughout 1998 was to provide security solutions to banks that meet US Commerce department export approval. Having now been awarded two US Commerce Department export licenses, Nanoteq has taken the lead in providing unrestricted end-to-end security for Windows NT-based banking applications using the CSP concept from Microsoft.
The CSP brings the power of a dedicated hardware or software cryptographic engine to Microsoft`s Crypto API environment, a security API included in Windows NT, allowing banks to add strong, and transparent security services easily to their applications.
"The CSP plug-in modules integrate seamlessly with Microsoft CryptoAPI, providing callable services that enable application developers to add crytographic and digital certificate services in a flexible manner," explained Nanoteq product manager Dave Ritten.
"The Nanoteq CSP offloads cryptographic tasks and provides the highest-level of security for the most advanced electronic commerce applications," he said.
The solution includes a hardware-secured design option for ensuring that all sensitive data is safeguarded within a tamper-resistant enclosure. The Messaging CSP allows unrestricted key length security for DES (56-bit), 3xDES (112-bit), RC4 (128-bit), and IDEA (128-bit) algorithms, and up to 2048-bit RSA and DSS.
"Nanoteq is one of a few security technology companies worldwide that has been granted unrestricted key length CSP export approval of this kind," he concluded.
Share
Editorial contacts