NATO ADOPTS GROUNDBREAKING COMMERCIAL PRODUCT FOR E-MAIL SECURITY

PRESS RELEASE – for immediate use.

22 May 2000

NATO ADOPTS GROUNDBREAKING COMMERCIAL PRODUCT FOR E-MAIL SECURITY

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, has ordered the latest in commercial e-mail security software from NET-TEL Computer Systems Ltd.

The order was placed on behalf of NATO by the Royal Norwegian Air Force Materiel Command (AIRMATCOMNOR) and is the first military application for the new groundbreaking MailGuard SMTP product, which became commercially available in January this year

The procurement is for a project within the OPUS technology upgrade program for NATO's Command and Control Information Systems (CCIS). The project enables the secure interconnection of the two key NATO CCIS systems in Europe. The two systems are the NEC CCIS and the Initial CAOC capability (ICC). These two systems provide information management and decision support to NATO's Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs), which have responsibility for air operations during peacetime, exercise and wartime. The interconnection project consists of interface units equipped with dedicated software and hardware. MailGuard SMTP is one of the key software components and is deployed to protect all e-mail communication between the systems, especially virus protection.

The software from NET-TEL is now operational and has been installed at three NATO Headquarters and in two mobile units, protecting the e-mail of some 1300 users.

Explaining why MailGuard SMTP was chosen, the AIRMATCOMNOR said “First - this product complied very well with our requirements. Secondly - NATO has had good experience with messaging security products from NET-TEL on several projects over a number of years.”

Product Information

A major step forward in e-mail security, MailGuard SMTP was designed by NET-TEL Computer Systems as the first true Policy Enforcer for e-mail. This system will allow an organisation to define, refine and enforce its e-mail security policy using just one application. Through a groundbreaking visual policy editor, it simplifies the daunting task of creating and enforcing an e-mail policy. Creating e-policy can easily result in a confusing tangle of rules which the latest addition to the MailGuard range has been designed to overcome by creating a simple stepwise refinement process from top-level corporate policy through to detailed operational exceptions.

“NET-TEL's experience of messaging and their knowledge of Government and Defence requirements have resulted in the incorporation of some unique features into MailGuard SMTP.” Keith Vallance, Product Marketing Director, NET-TEL Computer Systems, said. “ Not least among these is the control afforded to sensitive information, achieved by applying consistent labelling of messages (e.g. Commercial in Confidence) and regulating the movement of this sensitive information.”

The task of monitoring e-mail is made simple by a powerful keyword and phrase search engine. Uniquely, MailGuard SMTP can spot words and phrases even if they are mis-spelt, have endings such as "ed" and "ing" or use "sound-alike" spelling.

What does MailGuard SMTP do?

MailGuard SMTP is a software package that provides boundary protection wherever an organisation has a "trust gap", such as between the corporate intranet and the Internet, for example.

The MailGuard engine operates as a "proxy" server intercepting and examining messaging traffic, under the direction of the GuardRoom™ policy configuration and management tool.

The MailGuard engine takes apart individual messages, breaking them down into their most basic elements before passing the exposed content to a range of filter mechanisms. The filters provide control over Content, Access, Sensitivity and Resource.

Content control inspects what is being exchanged - scanning for viruses, screening documents by type, filtering macro-laden documents, checking for inappropriate text and blocking spam and spoofed messages. Access control authorises who can send to whom, controlling by domain, group or user to fit the working practises of the organisation. Sensitivity control directs the release of classified information and Resource control regulates the usage of messaging bandwidth.

A range of actions can be taken by MailGuard SMTP, including blocking or quarantining messages, removing attachments, adding annotations, as well as providing archiving and auditing.

About NET-TEL

NET-TEL Computer Systems Limited is a UK-based company that specialises in the development of security and messaging systems and products. The company developed the unique family of MailGuard™ messaging security products which include MailGuard X.400, MailGuard SMTP and MailGuard Bastion. Further information on MailGuard™ and NET-TEL can be found at the company’s product web site http://www.mailguard.co.uk.

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MailGuard and GuardRoom are trademarks of NET-TEL Computers Systems Limited. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

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