From: sameer <sameer@c2.net>
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 12:12:04 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: SAFEPASSAGE BRINGS STRONG CRYPTO TO WEB BROWSERS WORLDWIDE
Message-ID: <199611252011.MAA27220@clotho.c2.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


For Release November 25, 1996
C2Net Contact: Douglas Barnes, +1 510 986 8770
UK Web Contact: Dave Williams, +44 0113 222 0046 


      SAFEPASSAGE BRINGS STRONG CRYPTO TO WEB BROWSERS WORLDWIDE

Oakland, CA -- C2Net and UK Web, Ltd., announced today the beta
release of a new product, "SafePassage Web Proxy." International users
of popular web browsers such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet
Explorer can use SafePassage to make secure web connections using
full-strength cryptography.  Prior to this release, international
users of these browsers had to use weak cryptography, which could be
easily broken.

"SafePassage is the perfect complement to our Stronghold web server,"
said Mark Cox, Stronghold Product Manager for UK Web. "we've been
marketing the international version of Stronghold with full strength
cryptography for two months now, but we knew we would need matching
strong cryptography on the browser side as well. SafePassage Web Proxy
answers this need."

SafePassage provides secure connections using strong cryptography for
any browser that supports standard SSL tunneling. It currently runs on
Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.

"We don't believe in using codes so weak that foreign governments,
criminals or bored college students can break them," said C2Net
President Sameer Parekh, "we also oppose plans to put all your
cryptography keys in a few places, where they can be sold to the
highest bidder by traitors like Aldrich Ames, or recent suspect Harold
J. Nicholson."

Current "export" versions of Netscape and MSIE use a weak cipher that
has been broken by online groups, such as the "Cypherpunks." Companies
like HP and IBM, bowing to government pressure, have been promoting
seemingly innocuous "key recovery" plans that would require
centralized key storage and easy government access to -- or abuse of
-- cryptography keys.

Beta versions of SafePassage can be downloaded at no cost from UK
Web's site at: http://stronghold.ukweb.com/safepassage. It is
currently unavailable for distribution within the US and Canada, but a
domestic version will be made available in the near future.

The final release will be free for personal, educational, or other
non-commercial use; for information on site licenses and bundling,
send e-mail to safepassage@c2.net; or by phone, contact Douglas Barnes
at +1 510 986 8773, or Dave Williams at +44 0113 222 0046.

UK Web Limited is a leading Internet services company specialising in
server technology, Internet security, business solutions and effective
site design.

C2Net is the leading provider of uncompromising security on the
Internet.  C2Net provides a wide array of Internet privacy services
and powerful network security software.

Netscape Navigator and Netscape Enterprise are trademarks of Netscape
Communications Corporation. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft
Internet Information Server are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Stronghold and SafePassage are trademarks of C2Net.