V-One, SkyTel Release AirSmartGate

As a means to provide enhanced security for two-way pagers, SkyTel is deploying Germantown, MD-based V-One's AirSmartGate secure messaging system. It will offer the new encryption service to government markets first, then to Fortune 500 clients across the United States. AirSmartGate Server provides both encryption and authentication services and works with Motorola Inc.'s line of personal interactive communicators such as the PageWriter 2000X, the Timeport TM P930, and the Timeport P935 models.

The product uses a patent-pending wireless security scheme for pager-to-server communications and was developed with Motorola to ensure compatibility with ReFlex devices. The product increases the security of pager-to-pager, pager-to-e-mail, and e-mail-to-pager text messages. It can also secure vertical applications developed specifically for these devices. V-One has extended its SmartGate VPN technology into the wireless environment by developing support for Motorola's ReFlex high-speed transport protocol.

V-OneE developed AirSmartGate to ensure that wireless communications are made private for business. The product safeguards against cloning, eavesdropping, and message tampering by offering carriers using the ReFlex protocol, two-factor authentication, and data encryption using a key length of 128 bits.

The server integrates easily into a customer's enterprise network and connects to the SkyTel network operations center (NOC) via the Internet to provide secure transmission of information across both the wireless and wireline portion of the data path. The client software deploys easily on the customer's pager via V-One's patented On-Line Registration (OLR) process and enables the user to send and receive secure messages after authenticating themselves with the AirSmartGate servers.

Edited by Ellen Jensen