PrivateSky secures Web-based messaging, including Google Mail, Hotmail, Facebook

June 28, 2011

4 Min Read

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 22, 2011 - CertiVox today revolutionized secure information exchange for the cloud with the launch of PrivateSky, a service that allows anyone to quickly and easily secure their web-based messaging - including Google Mail, Hotmail, Facebook and others - and confirm the identity of the sender for messages they receive without using usernames, passwords, certificates or complex workflows. Offering unprecedented simplicity and ease of use, CertiVox's free PrivateSky Connectors for Microsoft Silverlight and Internet Explorer and breakthrough PrivateSky service virtually eliminate the threat posed by phishing and spear phishing attacks by delivering all the privacy, authentication, message integrity and non-repudiation benefits of military-grade AES encryption.

Unlike today's public/private key-based encryption systems, CertiVox's innovative cryptographic technology requires only one key and recipients do not have to be pre-registered with the PrivateSky service to receive protected messages. With the PrivateSky Internet Explorer Connector installed, anything typed into any web page text entry box - including all social networking and blog posts and comments, forum entries, web-based email messages and more - for any recipient can be uniquely encrypted with a single click.

"We are offering the PrivateSky service free to individuals to improve information security in an area that has not been well served until now," said Brian Spector, founder and CEO of CertiVox. "The individual's right to protect their data on the web has been ignored by the security industry and, as a consequence, now is being abused by attackers, unscrupulous governments and questionable business people.

"Until now, only large enterprises and governments have been able to adopt the complex and expensive techniques required to secure information exchanges. CertiVox's breakthrough key distribution technology means that individuals, from their browsers, now have access to the same sophisticated information security techniques used by governments and the military. And it's free."

According to Spector, the recent spear phishing attack against senior officials at the U.S. Department of State and the White House never would have happened had they been using the PrivateSky service in conjunction with their Google Mail accounts. It would have been immediately obvious that the messages they received did not come from the indicated sender, and were therefore suspect. Further, if the accounts had been compromised in some other manner, the encrypted content of the emails would have been secured from attackers.

The PrivateSky platform as a service employs CertiVox's innovative non-interactive key agreement technology which provides end-to-end encryption by issuing the user only one key, called a Sky Key. Unlike the public/private key protocol, which requires two keys for each user and a complex PKI infrastructure for encryption key distribution, the Sky Key enables the PrivateSky service to address privacy, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation without any of the usual complexity, cost or management overhead.

The PrivateSky service also is capable of delivering its secure information exchange services to a much broader range of applications and compliance-based communications including:

* Global enterprises sending EDI supply chain information between applications over unsecured online links * Online retailers using low-cost, point-to-point encryption solutions for PCI compliance * Government agencies providing citizens with private and or critical information * Investment bankers and lawyers communicating with clients about a highly sensitive merger or public offering * ISV's developing applications that handle and process sensitive information or performance data for real-time systems * SaaS providers operating securely "in the cloud" to meet compliance requirements and meeting their customers concerns over security The PrivateSky service uses the AES 192-bit encryption standard, and complies with European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC.

Availability and Pricing The PrivateSky Connector for Internet Explorer is available now for free download and use at the PrivateSky website, http://www.responsetrack.net/lnk/privatesky/1eczl/?17QWP003KEL. Internet Explorer is the first of several popular browsers to be supported by the PrivateSky service, and additional Connector plug-ins are planned.

About CertiVox CertiVox develops and markets technology and services that enable everyone to secure their information exchanges simply and easily. Through its pioneering use of non-interactive key distribution, CertiVox's on-demand key generation and management service can provide ISVs and SaaS providers with the security backbone they need to achieve end-to-end secure information exchange for a broad array of cloud-based applications. Building upon this infrastructure, CertiVox has created PrivateSky, the first end-to-end secure information exchange service for the Web 2.0 world, for individuals and companies needing to secure their information exchanges over the Internet. CertiVox has headquarters in San Francisco and London, and is funded by Pentech Ventures and Octopus Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.responsetrack.net/lnk/certivox/1eczm/?17QWP003KEL.

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