ViaSat licenses SSH secure wireless for aircraft

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- ViaSat has licensed SSH's IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) technology for use in advanced digital satellite telecommunications and wireless signal processing equipment aboard commercial aircraft.

"By combining ViaSat expertise in networking equipment and services with SSH's industry-leading encryption software, we can ensure that our broadband technology is equipped with a high level of security," said Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of ViaSat. "SSH's IPSec technology is comprehensive and provides the scalability that we need to protect the integrity of customers' networks and ensure that their users have secure remote access including those traveling on commercial aircraft."

Dankberg added that as the number of business travelers and remote employees continues to grow, mobile environments such as commercial aircraft need to evolve their wireless infrastructures to accommodate workers' daily productivity needs.

Encryption technology

ViaSat develops and designs subscriber terminals and ground infrastructure for broadband satellite services and from consumer to enterprise to mobile users. By integrating SSH's award-winning IPSec encryption technology into its solutions, ViaSat terminals and broadband systems can securely transfer information and mission critical data across the Internet from commercial aircraft.

"High-speed connectivity to e-mail, the Internet and corporate intranets should not be a luxury available only to workers in their corporate offices," said George Adams, president and CEO of SSH Communications Security. "ViaSat is a clear innovator and vendor-of-choice for its products for data and voice applications and satellite systems, and we are pleased to provide the security technology for their wireless environments to help them ensure that broadband networks are protected from outside threats."

IPSec is an IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standard for protecting IP traffic using cryptography on the packet level. This Internet protocol is the predominant security technology used in VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). A driving force for IPSec, VPNs allow users to establish secure data communications between multiple networks or network devices using insecure public networks such as the Internet. SSH's IPSec technology adds scalable, strong security to IP networks, without limiting its flexibility to enable new types of business opportunities, such as secure local and global communications between companies. SSH IPSEC Express is the world's leading toolkit for IPSec.

Founded in 1995, SSH Communications Security's customers include many IT market leaders such as Compaq, Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, Nokia, and Sun Microsystems, among others. The company's award-winning SSH Secure Shell application has become the de-facto standard for secure logins with millions of users in over 80 countries.