IP: FStrong Internet Privacy Software Free for Linux Users Worldwide

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>        
>
>Toronto, ON, April 14, 1999 - 
>
>The Linux FreeS/WAN project today released free software to protect
>the privacy of Internet communications using strong encryption codes.
>FreeS/WAN automatically encrypts data as it crosses the Internet, to
>prevent unauthorized people from receiving or modifying it.  One
>ordinary PC per site runs this free software under Linux to become a
>secure gateway in a Virtual Private Network, without having to modify
>users' operating systems or application software.  The project built
>and released the software outside the United States, avoiding US
>government regulations which prohibit good privacy protection.
>FreeS/WAN version 1.0 is available immediately for downloading at
>http://www.xs4all.nl/~freeswan/.
>
>"Today's FreeS/WAN release allows network administrators to build
>excellent secure gateways out of old PCs at no cost, or using a cheap
>new PC," said John Gilmore, the entrepreneur who instigated the
>project in 1996.  "They can build operational experience with strong
>network encryption and protect their users' most important
>communications worldwide."
>
>"The software was written outside the United States, and we do not
>accept contributions from US citizens or residents, so that it can be
>freely published for use in every country," said Henry Spencer, who
>built the release in Toronto, Canada.  "Similar products based in the
>US require hard-to-get government export licenses before they can be
>provided to non-US users, and can never be simply published on a Web
>site.  Our product is freely available worldwide for immediate
>downloading, at no cost."
>
>FreeS/WAN provides privacy against both quiet eavesdropping (such as
>"packet sniffing") and active attempts to compromise communications
>(such as impersonating participating computers).  Secure "tunnels" carry
>information safely across the Internet between locations such as a
>company's main office, distant sales offices, and roaming laptops.  This
>protects the privacy and integrity of all information sent among those
>locations, including sensitive intra-company email, financial transactions
>such as mergers and acquisitions, business negotiations, personal medical
>records, privileged correspondence with lawyers, and information about
>crimes or civil rights violations.  The software will be particularly
>useful to frequent wiretapping targets such as private companies competing
>with government-owned companies, civil rights groups and lawyers,
>opposition political parties, and dissidents. 
>
>FreeS/WAN provides privacy for Internet packets using the proposed
>standard Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) protocols.  FreeS/WAN
>negotiates strong keys using Diffie-Hellman key agreement with 1024-bit
>keys, and encrypts each packet with 168-bit Triple-DES (3DES).  A modern
>$500 PC can set up a tunnel in less than a second, and can encrypt
>6 megabits of packets per second, easily handling the whole available
>bandwidth at the vast majority of Internet sites.  In preliminary testing,
>FreeS/WAN interoperated with 3DES IPSEC products from OpenBSD, PGP, SSH,
>Cisco, Raptor, and Xedia.  Since FreeS/WAN is distributed as source code,
>its innards are open to review by outside experts and sophisticated users,
>reducing the chance of undetected bugs or hidden security compromises.
>
>The software has been in development for several years.  It has been
>funded by several philanthropists interested in increased privacy on
>the Internet, including John Gilmore, co-founder of the Electronic
>Frontier Foundation, a leading online civil rights group.
>
>Press contacts:
>Hugh Daniel,   +1 408 353 8124, hugh@toad.com
>Henry Spencer, +1 416 690 6561, henry@spsystems.net
>
>* FreeS/WAN derives its name from S/WAN, which is a trademark of RSA Data
>  Security, Inc; used by permission.
>
>        -30-
>
>