BARRON McCANN X-KRYPTOR KEY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GAINS CESG CAPS APPROVAL
Leading information security and IT services specialist Barron McCann has announced that the Key Management System (KMS) for its secure remote access suite, X-Kryptor, has now received baseline approval from the UK’s national technical authority on information assurance, CESG.
The approval means that Government and other public sector X-Kryptor users may now implement over-the-air re-keying of X-Kryptor gateways and client software – a process that would previously have had to take place manually, at considerable expense and inconvenience to both users and IT service staff alike. According to Barron McCann, secure remote deployment of replacement key material is likely to see significant savings of up to 70% in terms of both maintenance time and deployment costs.
CESG’s Assisted Products Service (CAPS) approval was introduced to meet the increasing demand from HMG for cryptographic products, which enable secure information transfer over remote or overseas connections. CAPS verifies commercial security products to HMG cryptographic standards and formally approves them for use by HMG and other public sector organisations.
“X-Kryptor’s new Key Management System will deliver a huge benefit for anyone in the public sector – or using RWS (remote worker service) – who is required to issue and maintain up to date encryption key material,” commented Barron McCann’s Head of Technical Services, Martin McDonald. “With CAPS approval, X-Kryptor’s ability to allow remote deployment of key material to government departments or remote workers in a way that causes minimal disruption to the user community itself will play a significant role in securing data and machine integrity for all users,” he added.
X-Kryptor’s new Key Management System (KMS) has been designed to give system administrators and managed service providers the ability to automatically manage all facets of key material deployment to remote locations - from renewal, right through to revocation, making it easy to re-key any X-Kryptor gateway or client, with no compromise in security.
Previously, users were required to return their computer equipment to a central point to facilitate the installation of new key material – a particularly difficult procedure for remote or overseas users. Barron McCann’s new key management application can now completely automate this process without the user’s computer equipment leaving its location.
With guidance and advice from CESG, X-Kryptor’s KMS allows both control of who and what receives new key material and when. This is achieved by both the X‑Kryptor device and the Key Management Application (KMA) passing and checking several predefined device and user constants designed to ensure that registration, reception and subsequent updating of new key material is 100% secure and reliable at all times.
The KMA will connect directly to the LAN interface of a Key Management X-Kryptor which is configured to use the key material set that matches the initial key material set of the clients and X‑Kryptors being deployed.
The Key Management Application itself is an MS Windows application, typically installed on a Windows 2000 or 2003 server platform, which maintains an SQL database for all X-Kryptor devices. Key material for X-Kryptor is generated and issued via the United Kingdom Key Production Authority (UKKPA) and typically must be replaced every 12 months, placing a significant overhead on X-Kryptor users to maintain up-to-date material.
About Barron McCann
Barron McCann Technology has a 20-year track record in information security, IT services and secure payment systems. The company’s product and service offerings include X-Kryptor, a market-leading dynamic VPN product range offering Government-approved, high level security facilities; PayGate, a secure payment solution; Validate, a secure transaction validation system; e-Post, an electronic document exchange system and Secure Data Services – a portfolio of services providing a complete solution to the secure management and destruction of optical, magnetic and printed data up to and including HM Government ‘Top Secret’ (IL6) level.
Barron McCann Technology Ltd is based at Bemac House, Fifth Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 2HF. For further information, please contact Lynda Regan on 01462 482333.
X-Kryptor Key Management System Brochure