In late March, SHYM Technologies began shipping PKEnable V2, a server-based middleware security system that authenticates transactions between applications on different servers. Announced at the RSA 2000 Conference in January, PKEnable offers a snap-in public key infrastructure (PKI) security model that lets developers build PKI solutions quickly, adding features such as centralized trust-policy enforcement and security management. The PKEnable Server is built on an industry-standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory and, therefore, can interoperate with standard network directory services.
PKEnable V2 is modular and hides the complexity of PKI services from the applications that use it. Through the SHYM Integration Layer (SIL), PKEnable connects to various plug-in modules: The SHYM module supports standard client/server applications; the AutoShym module supports network authentication. SHYM's technology also supports a variety of enterprise and Internet PKIs from leading vendors.
Through an eShym, a Web application module that resides on the Web server and accesses your digital certificate, PKEnable can perform authentication through a secure socket layer (SSL) connection in your browser without requiring any additional client software. PKEnable sends the user's identity to the application server, typically within a firewall. Adding a digital signature plug-in provides signing capability. SHYM has partnered with PeopleSoft to ship an eShym for that company's application; SAP R/3 is another partner.
MailShym is a module for email messages that lets companies deploy and manage secure email. MailShyms allow snap-in digital certificates with Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, and Qualcomm's Eudora. The system lets you centrally manage digital certificates, user profile configurations, multiplatform support, enforced trust policy, and interoperability between email clients. A MailShym for Lotus Notes is also available.
With Windows 2000 (Win2K) and UNIX both containing support for security through PKI, many analysts expect products leveraging these technologies to become important in the next year. PKEnable V2's market segment should grow dramatically in that time. In offering a modular product with a standard API, SHYM's application security server improves implementation times and reduces development costs. A pilot package for 25 users starts at $5000 with license pricing based on the number of users, applications, and deployed PKIs.