Overview

The Solaris Operating Environment

The Solaris 8 Operating Environment is the established OS leader for availability, scalability, and security in the Internet age. In Solaris 8 software, Sun delivers a trustworthy, universal platform to meet the needs of dot-com businesses -- from small startups to large Fortune 1000 enterprises.

SunScreen SKIP 1.5.1

When you need a solution that provides strong, secure remote access and intranet security, Sun is ready to deliver. Sun provides flexible solutions to assist companies that require powerful security capabilities to conduct business - over an intranet or the Internet -- in a secure fashion. SunScreen SKIP (Simple Key-management for Internet Protocols) offers one of the best public-key cryptography implementations available, providing secure host authentication and multiple encryption algorithms designed to fit your needs. It provides secure communication -- transparently -- to both users and applications.

Using public-key cryptography, SunScreen SKIP authenticates all incoming IP traffic. It also enables integrity and privacy for outgoing data by ensuring that it will not be altered or viewed by others while in transit. With public-key cryptography, users are assured of using one of the most secure mechanisms for encrypting and authenticating network traffic.

SunScreen SKIP 1.5.1 for the Solaris Operating Environment is bundled as part of the SunScreen Secure Net 3.1 solution or can be chosen separately. SunScreen SKIP 1.5.1 is available for any system running the Solaris 8, 7, or 2.6 Operating Environment on SPARC or Intel Architecture platforms. SunScreen SKIP is also available for Microsoft Windows environments, including Windows 95, 98, 98 Second Edition, and NT 4.0.

SunScreen Secure Net

SunScreen Secure Net is a complete, flexible, and affordable network security product for protecting valuable corporate assets. It enables new business models such as secure intranets, establishing tighter relationships with partners using secure extranets and supporting secure remote access for mobile and remote employees.

SunScreen Secure Net includes both routing and stealth firewalls in addition to SunScreen SKIP for virtual private network (VPN) functionality. Its features include multiprocessing performance, high availability, remote administration, and content filtering. A key technology of the SunScreen Secure Net solution, SunScreen SKIP delivers data encryption and authentication for remote access and secure intranets.

The Network Security Solution for Remote and Mobile Users

Whether connectivity is required from home or while on the road, SunScreen SKIP provides users with the ability to gain secure and authenticated access back to their corporate network. Network administrators can set up permissions and rules that create a secure VPN between their SunScreen Secure Net firewall and SunScreen SKIP users.

The Network Security Solution for Corporate Intranets

SunScreen SKIP extends far beyond securing communication over the Internet. It can also be applied to corporate intranets for authenticating and ensuring the privacy of users communicating with secured servers.

Within a corporate setting, there may be any number of servers that contain sensitive data. These servers, protected by a SunScreen Secure Net system, could contain data such as:

• Confidential financial projections
• Personnel files
• Executive-level information

A corporation's most confidential information can be kept secure yet immediately accessible only to authorized individuals with a legitimate need for that information.

SunScreen SKIP also solves the problem of maintaining intranet security. By authenticating the IP traffic stream as well as encrypting it, SunScreen SKIP achieves the goal of securing internal corporate communication.

A Flexible Solution

SunScreen SKIP is an independent software module that lies at the network IP layer. Therefore, it is application transparent and makes secure communication possible with all IP (TCP and UDP) applications -- without any modification or knowledge of SKIP.

SunScreen SKIP 1.5.1 is offered in two encryption strengths: 56-bit and 128-bit version.

What is SKIP?

SunScreen SKIP is based on the Simple Key-management for Internet Protocols standard for key management and IP encryption. It includes:

• Automatic certificate exchanges
• Sessionless protocols
• Certificate Discovery Protocol (CDP)

SKIP was originally developed by Sun Microsystems. The technology has been placed into the public domain to ensure interoperability between multiple implementations - including SunScreen Secure Net.

Specifications

Hardware/Software Platform

• Any system running the Solaris 8, 7, or 2.6 Operating Environment on SPARC or Intel Architecture platforms

Network Interfaces

• Any Sun equipped 10/100 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet interface
• Any Sun supported FDDI interface
• Solaris PPP 5.4 or later

Memory

• A minimum of 16 Mbytes is required; 32 Mbytes is recommended

Disk

• A minimum of 12 Mbytes of disk space is required for installation, 7 Mbytes of which will be permanently used

56-Bit Version
(Diffie-Hellman modulus size of 1024 bits)
Algorithms supported:

• Data encryption:
  • 56-bit DES CBC

128-Bit Version
(Diffie-Hellman modulus size of 2048 or 4096 bits)
Additional Algorithms supported:

• Key encryption:
  • 56-bit DES CBC
  • 3-Key Triple-DES
  • 128-bit RC4
  • 128-bit SAFER CBC
• Data encryption:
  • 56-bit DES CBC
  • 3-Key Triple-DES
  • 128-bit SAFER CBC

Features

All network applications are secured transparently:

• No modifications are required to existing applications
• Flexible network access control facilities allow or disallow remote access to the local system
• Nomadic mode supports mobile users whose network address changes
• Graphical user interface and command-line tools for administration
• Automatic Certificate Discovery eliminates manual key distribution

For More Information

To learn more about SunScreen SKIP and SunScreen Secure Net, please visit our Web site at www.sun.com/security.