Microsoft partnering to lock docs

Microsoft announced partnerships with 20 companies to secure digital information from unauthorized use employing so-called rights management technology.

Microsoft will work with third party companies including nCipher and Liquid Machines to secure files such as e-mail and word processing documents regardless of where they are stored, using rights management features and tools in Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Internet Security Acceleration (ISA) Server, the company said.

Liquid Machines, of Lexington, Massachusetts, said that it is working with Microsoft to integrate its products with Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) for Windows Server 2003.

Through the partnership, Liquid Machines will use its proprietary auto-integration technology and application programming interfaces (APIs) to add RMS features to applications such as Adobe Systems' Acrobat, Documentum enterprise content management products and Siebel Systems' customer relationship management (CRM) products, the company said.

NCipher of Cambridge, UK, which makes computer hardware that stores the keys used to encrypt data, said that its technology will be used to provide a tamper-resistant environment to store and manage the keys used by RMS to encrypt and then unlock documents and messages.

Gigamedia Access of Herndon, Virginia said that it will use the Microsoft RMS technology in its GigaTrust for Email and GigaTrust for Web Servers products. Microsoft's Windows RMS will allow GigaTrust to offer document rights management as a hosted service to customers that want to secure inter-company communications and communications with business partners, Microsoft and Gigamedia said in a statement.

Also, Network Associates said that it is working on a version of McAfee SecurityShield for Microsoft ISA Server. SecurityShield, scheduled for release in the second quarter, will add antivirus protection, virus outbreak management, content scanning and an option antispam filtering to ISA Server.

The announcement, at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, is just the latest in a string of security-related announcements from Microsoft.

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates addressed the Conference Tuesday and outlined a number of initiatives, including new streamlined security features for Windows XP, tamper-resistant biometric ID cards and "active protection" technology to protect Windows systems from attack.

• Bookmark this page
• Share this article
  •  
  • facebook
  • slashdot
  • digg
  • Reddit
  • stumbleupon
  • linkedin
  • twitter
• Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
• Follow Computerworld on twitter

• Share
  Share this article

  •  google+
  • facebookfacebook
  • slashdotslashdot
  • diggdigg
  • RedditReddit
  • stumbleuponstumbleupon
  • linkedinlinkedin
  • twittertwitter
• print
• email
• Bookmark