Voltage Security Network
The Voltage Security Network is a web-based encryption service that is a division of Voltage Security, Inc.(2002) The Voltage Security Network (VSN) offers Identity based encryption encrypted e-mail and file encryption for individuals, small businesses and large enterprises. The Voltage Security Network is the first web service based upon Voltage Security's Identity Based Encryption (IBE) protocol, a next generation public key infrastructure (PKI) first conceived of by Adi Shamir (the 'S' in RSA) and then created by Dan Boneh a co-founder of Voltage Security, Inc. and Matt Franklin
Users can either use a web based interface to compose, send and decrypt encrypted messages or install an MS Outlook / Outlook Express plug-in that allows users to compose and read encrypted messages off-line. The plug-in also allows users to encrypt any file on their filesystem by simply right-clicking on the file and choosing one or more identities with which to encrypt.
The Voltage Security Network is unique due to the fact that a subscriber may send secure email to anyone, anytime, without the need for the Recipient to do or know anything (i.e. get an x.509 certificate or get a password from the sender). As long as they have sole access to their email account, they can quickly authenticate themselves and read their secure email.
The Voltage Security Network is also unique from other email encryption services in that it doesn't store the content of any messages sent through it's systems. Identity based encryption has the ability to dynamically generate private keys for any individual identity at any time as long as the individual authenticates themselves to the IBE key server. This allows users (both senders and recipients) to have complete control over their content since the actual encrypted messages only reside in sender's sent folders and recipient's inboxes.
Key management with IBE makes it practically impossible for users to lose their private keys. The IBE key server can regenerate any key for any message encrypted in the past.
Identity based encryption also provides the ability to automatically federate to other IBE servers hosted by other entities. This allows recipients to authenticate against their own key servers and have even more control over the encrypted content sent to them.
Users must trust that the Voltage Security Network will protect the systems that generate these keys. The benefits of simplified key management, ad-hoc secure email to anyone and automatic federation to enterprises running their own IBE key servers finally make public key cryptography easy to use and painless to deploy. It just works.
See also
- Identity-Based Encryption (IBE)
- E-mail privacy
- Secure email
- Cryptography
External links
- Official website
- Network Computing article on VSN
- Voltage Security Network article in Network World
- VSN Fully Managed Email Encryption Service - UK based IBE encryption web service
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