Exostar Launches Managed Access Gateway Service

PRESS RELEASE

HERNDON, VA, December 1, 2009 - Exostar, the leading provider of secure, on-demand, multi-enterprise collaboration solutions to the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, today announced the official launch and general availability of its Managed Access Gateway (MAG). MAG is a cloud-based identity hub offering that enables businesses to outsource the external identity management function, allowing them to control access to their applications and associated data by third-parties " all without the need for any on-premise hardware or software.

As ecosystems of suppliers, customers, and partners become bigger, more complex, and more integral to the business, companies are finding it more challenging to grant external users access to their applications. Traditional approaches, such as direct provisioning of internal application accounts to external users or bi-lateral identity federation, are labor-intensive, costly, and complex. They also don't scale and subject applications and data to undue security exposure and risk.

MAG overcomes these hurdles by providing an identity management service in the cloud for partners of all shapes and sizes, while also meeting the security requirements of application owners. Application owners outsource their external user account management, yet retain control over which users can access their applications and data. MAG is built on a next-generation identity hub federation model, incorporating federation protocols including WS-Federation and SAML to seamlessly support Web-based access to multiple applications. Because applications and data may have varying degrees of sensitivity, MAG supports a variety of authentication methods, from username/password to digital certificates issued after an in-person proofing event.

The MAG service offering extends well beyond the core identity hub federation technology. Exostar manages interactions with all partners in the ecosystem, including all initial communications, training, user enrollment, and customer care. In addition, application owners can track the status of external user enrollment and leverage Exostar as the single contact point for all customer support.

"Demand for hosted identity provider services is growing in several industries as enterprises seek modern solutions to advanced collaboration scenarios," said Gerry Gebel, Vice President and Service Director at Burton Group. "Enterprises desire services that are technically complete, but that also support IdM business processes. IDP services that address technical and business requirements will have a distinct advantage."

MAG has been operational for the past two years, providing secure application access to an A&D supply chain community of nearly 100,000 individuals. In preparation for the official launch of the service, Exostar upgraded and expanded MAG to include:

* Integration with Exostar's Trading Partner Manager (TPM). TPM accesses independent third-party sources like Dun & Bradstreet in real-time to gather critical information about partners, such as socio-economic status or inclusion on denied party lists " ensuring they are viable and enriching the information available about them. * Empowering partners to quickly and efficiently meet the higher assurance levels of their customers without requiring assistance. * Support for Export control compliance by accounting for attributes such as U.S. Person status.

"We believe there's a sea change transpiring in the marketplace that makes this the ideal time to launch MAG," said Vijay Takanti, Exostar's Vice President of Security and Collaboration Solutions. "Companies are redefining the roles of their partners, more closely aligning them with the processes, applications, and data that are critical to operations. As a result, facilitating external access without compromising security becomes a top priority. Solutions that leverage a cloud-based model that can help connect partner networks, optimize and strengthen application access, and support compliance have been needed, but have heretofore been lacking. Exostar's MAG is the identity provider that validates this approach and makes it practical to implement and execute."

About Exostar Exostar powers secure multi-enterprise information sharing, collaboration and business process integration throughout the value chain. Exostar was founded in 2000 to support the complex trading needs of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies, including BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Rolls-Royce. Exostar's identity assurance products and on-demand business applications reduce risk, improve agility and strengthen trading partner relationships and profitability for over 70,000 companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.exostar.com.

Media Contact: Alan Gilbert Exostar (703) 793-7735 (o) (703) 624-4675 (m) [email protected]