Corsec Security and C4 Technology Bring FIPS 140-2 Consulting Services to Japan

Corsec Security, Inc. (Fairfax VA, U.S.A.) is please to announce that they have forged a partnership with C4 Technology, Inc. (C4T in Tokyo Japan), to bring consulting services on CMVP's FIPS 140-2 program to the Asian security market.

(PRWEB) October 10, 2004 -- Corsec Security, Inc. (Fairfax VA, U.S.A.) is please to announce that they have forged a partnership with C4 Technology, Inc. (C4T in Tokyo Japan), to bring consulting services on CMVP's FIPS 140-2 program to the Asian security market.

FIPS 140-2 is a standard jointly published by NIST in the U.S. and CSE in Canada that applies to any product containing cryptography that may be purchased by the U.S. government. It is a mandated law in the U.S., and is also very strictly enforced in Canada. It is reaching increasing popularity in the financial industry, and is being reviewed by ISO to become an international standard. With other recent homeland security initiatives becoming the focal point for companies everywhere, FIPS 140-2 is gaining worldwide recognition as an important bench mark for third party validations of encryption products of all kinds.

C4T had recently taken its own software library, C4CS through the rigorous FIPS 140-2 testing process. Now in the "in review" stage at NIST, C4T gained invaluable experience with this process, and decided to translate that experience into consulting services for their Japanese clients as well. C4T chose Corsec Security to assist with this due to their vast experience in this area. Founded by a former NVLAP lab manager, Corsec has helped nearly a quarter of all vendors through the FIPS 140-2 testing process.

"C4T believes that to deliver a truly "secure" security product, a validation program testing it's cryptographic module is necessary", C4T's president, Mr. Mitsuo Misumi, explains. "We have developed a product that is now in review in the CMVP for FIPS 140-2 validation. We believe that the CMVP should also prevail in Japan for sound information security, and will therefore start FIPS 140-2 validation consulting services."

Mr. Misumi continues "We are much honored to have agreed to meet a technical agreement with Corsec Security, Inc., which is the largest and the most experienced FIPS 140-2 consulting party in the US, and will make our services more ensured. By offering FIPS 140-2 consulting services, we hope to contribute to an improved quality of cryptographic products in the Asian region, including Japan."

As part of this effort, many well known companies in Japan participate in the Cryptographic Techniques Evaluation Project, or CRYPTREC. CRYPTREC is a large group of experts from across the Japanese security industry whose goal is to compile a list of recommended cryptographic techniques for securing Japanese e-Government. The evaluation of cryptographic techniques is done by "Cryptography Research & Evaluation Committees," which consist of preeminent specialists of cryptography in Japan.

Most recently, CRYPTREC has translated the FIPS 140-2 standard into Japanese for review by these committees. Since it is the very first version of the standard to reach Japan, it is aptly referred to as the 0 (beta)-version of the evaluation criteria for cryptographic modules. The result is increased visibility of FIPS 140-2 in Asia, and Japans cryptographic module validation program is expected to be a localization of the established CMVP program. However, since there are no NVLAP accredited testing labs in Japan, it may be challenging for even an aggressive Japanese company to complete the difficult FIPS 140-2 process unassisted. Under Corsec's guidance, C4T seeks to fill that need by offering their customers their services of training, consulting, and interaction with the labs as well as with NIST / CSE.

"Corsec Security is honored to have forged this partnership with such a prestigious company as C4T in Japan." exclaims John Morris, Corsec's president and co-founder. "As FIPS 140-2 becomes more important is Asia, Corsec is looking forward to working with C4T's clients to achieve these important security validations."       

About Corsec Security, Inc.
Corsec Security, Inc. offers seven years of experience consulting on FIPS 140-2 and Common Criteria (ISO/IEC 15408). They are industry experts in navigating through these complex government validations in the most efficient way possible. They have helped many top tier security vendors successfully achieve product certification quickly and easily. Visit Corsecs website at http://www.corsec.com

About C4 Technology:
C4 Technology, Inc.'s main business is the development and license supply of proprietary C4 cipher, Secret Sharing Scheme and Digital Watermarking; the sale of information security products; and Distribution of information security solution service. By fully taking advantage of these core technologies, they are transforming themselves into a leading company in information security. In fact, they were named #27 in Deloitte and Touche's Technology Fast 500 list in 2003. Visit C4Ts website at http://c4t.jp/english

About FIPS 140-2
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) is run by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), which was established by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of the Government of Canada in July 1995. All of the tests under the CMVP are handled by third-party laboratories that are accredited as Cryptographic Module Testing (CMT) laboratories by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP). View the NIST CMVP website at: http://csrc.nist.gov/cryptval

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Additional References:
-International Organization for Standardization (ISO) review on FIPS 140-2 (including submitted comments from the Japanese body)    http://www.gammassl.co.uk/ist33/N691.pdf
-D&T Fast 500 List Winners 2003    http://www.fast500asiapac.com/downloads/2003winners.pdf
-CRYPTEC information
http://www2.nict.go.jp/ns/s801/102/index-e.html