IT Security Technology: SHA-3 First Round Candidates

NIST has recently announced the list of the 51 First Round Candidates for the new SHA-3 cryptographic hash algorithm. A hash algorithm converts a variable length message into a short message digest, that can be used for digital signatures, message authentication and other applications. The competition to find a new standard hash algorithm is NIST’s response to recent advances in the cryptanalysis of hash functions.

The First Round SHA-3 Candidates

NIST will also organize the first SHA-3 Candidate Conference at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, on February 25-28. The purpose of the conference is to allow the submitters of the first round candidates to present their algorithms, and for NIST to discuss the process and criteria for involving the cryptographic community in quickly reducing the number of submissions to a more manageable number.

Product News: SSH Tectia Software Updates

SSH Tectia Client/Server Solution updated to version 6.0.8

The following SSH Tectia products have been updated to version 6.0.8:

• SSH Tectia Client
• SSH Tectia Server
• SSH Tectia ConnectSecure
• SSH Tectia Server for Linux on IBM System z

This release contains many useful enhancements and fixes. For more information, please refer to the Release Notes.

To download the latest SSH Tectia  updates, please log into our Customer Download Center.

SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS gains major performance enhancements with version 6.0.5

The SSH Tectia Server 6.0.5 for IBM z/OS maintenance release has now been released, with significant performance improvements on the mainframe.

With new mainframe-specific optimizations and more efficient data transport, CPU utilization can now be cut to a third, when compared to previous SSH Tectia versions on the mainframe, further resulting in direct reductions to operating costs. The reduced CPU utilization and other enhancements also greatly improve file transfer performance, helping SSH Tectia customers to effectively meet their mission critical file transfer windows.

On top of the performance improvements, SSH Tectia Server 6.0.5 for IBM z/OS also introduces support for z/OS 1.10, in addition to fixes and minor features. To learn more, read the Release Notes and download the release at the Customer Download Center.

Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting Public Key Authentication

Questions about or problems with setting up public-key authentication is our single most frequently asked about topic in SSH Tectia Technical Support. Setting up public-key authentication can often be confusing, especially for users new to using SSH, or those who are familiar with setting up public-key authentication with previous versions of SSH Tectia or OpenSSH. SSH Tectia 5.x/6.x public-key setup is different from SSH Tectia 4.x public-key setup, and different from OpenSSH public-key setup.

>> Read More

New Documents at SSH Resource Center

Achieving and Maintaining Compliance White Paper

Enterprises today must comply with an increased number of regulations and industry standards affecting IT security. Often the same organization must adhere to more than one of these mandates. This white paper describes a phased approach for reaching regulatory compliance by using the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and the FTP protocol as examples.

>> Download White Paper

New Case Study: Government Agency Deploys SSH Tectia for Secure File Transfer

Read how a large federal government agency uses SSH Tectia to secure system administration and file transfers to and from IBM mainframe systems that run millions of sensitive internal and consumer data transactions.

>> Download Case Study

New Data Sheets: SSH Tectia Manager and SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS.

The data sheets for SSH Tectia Manager and SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS have been updated to reflect additions to supported platforms.

>> Download SSH Tectia Manager Data Sheet

>> Download SSH Tectia Server for IBM z/OS Data Sheet

Events and Webinars

Come and see us to hear the latest news and interesting ways to use SSH Tectia at the following upcoming events:

• March 2-4, 2009: Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX: SHARE Technology Expo
• March 9-10, 2009: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando, FL: InfosecWorld Conference & Expo
• April 28-30, 2009: Earl's Court, London, UK: InfoSecurity Europe

Webinars will be held on:

• March 18, 2009: SSH Tectia ConnectSecure

SSH will conduct two Webinars (unless noted) at 11 am PST / 1 pm CST / 2 pm EST, and at 2 pm GMT (London).

>> Please see the SSH Events Calendar for registration – dates and times are subject to change.

SSH in the Headlines

• February 25, 2009 SSH Establishes New Global Sales and Marketing Group, led by George Adams
• February 24, 2009 SSH Communications Security Named 2009 Hot Companies Award Finalist