Hewlett-Packard reported today it received
approval from the U.S. government to export strong cryptographic technology
used for the secure transmission of sensitive files and other content.
HP was granted exportation rights for VerSecure, 128-bit and triple-DES
encryption technology used in encrypting data such as financial
transactions, blueprints, digital signatures, medical and legal records,
telecommunications billing, business-to-business communication, consumer
credit information, and private messages.
The license covers exportation of the product to the United Kingdom,
Germany, France, Denmark, and Australia. The license will be expanded to
include additional countries in upcoming months.
“HP is supportive of the administration’s efforts to strike a fair balance
between the sometimes-competing interests of law enforcement/national
security and the legitimate commercial need for strong cryptography,” said
William A. Reinsch, Undersecretary of Commerce.
“VerSecure technology promises to make great strides in bridging the gap
between law enforcement and commercial interests that are affected by
government cryptography policy.”
In related news, HP reports it will work with IBM to integrate IBM’s
KeyWorks key-recovery technology with VerSecure. The companies will also
collaborate on developing other cryptographic hardware products.
“We think working together to leverage the strengths of both companies in
this important area will lead to greater use of security software and
hardware worldwide,” said Lewis E. Platt, HP chairman, president and chief
executive officer of HP.
