http://cnnfn.com/hotstories/deals/wires/9812/14/ibm_wg/
IBM tightens Net security
In bid to trump Sendmail, Big Blue offers free e-mail protection software
and code
December 14, 1998: 11:20 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - IBM Corp. has announced software it says will protect
electronic mail systems against existing vulnerabilities in an effort to
boost confidence that the Internet is a safe place to do business.
Called Secure Mailer, IBM (IBM) hopes the program will replace the
existing Sendmail delivery software that currently processes more than
three-quarters of Internet correspondence.
"This will make IBM's and everyone's Internet activities more secure,"
promised Charles Palmer, IBM's network security research manager.
Palmer said the current software used in most e-mail programs, developed
nearly 20 years ago, suffers from "some nasty bugs" that have been known
to delete files, send out password files and other "dumb things" that
hackers can exploit to compromise security.
In order to entice the software world to scrap this essentially free
program, IBM not only plans to give away its own version of the product,
but is publishing the underlying source code too. This allows programmers
to tinker with the e-mail software's basic functions and develop
improvements.
This is a departure, but a necessary one for IBM. Sendmail Inc., the
privately held distributor of the current e-mail program, already freely
publishes its own programming code.
IBM stands to benefit indirectly from solving security issues due to its
large and rapidly growing investment in overall electronic commerce. The
computer maker traditionally has guarded its proprietary software
creations and is seen as a jealous defender of its patents.
Chris King, analyst with industry researchers Meta Group, said he didn't
see IBM giving up on its commercial goals by giving away some of its
software secrets. "IBM sees this as an indirect revenue generator," he
said.
IBM said it is publishing the e-mail software code as a test run for
developing "open source" software in general. The term refers to the
source code that underlies any software program. In this case, IBM has
agreed to openly publish what it has traditionally considered a trade
secret.
"It's clear we are kind of taking baby steps here and feeling it out," an
IBM spokeswoman said. "The feeling is this (is) definitely an area to
explore."
IBM's move follows such other leading software makers as Netscape
Communications Corp. (NSCP) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW), which in the
past year have signed up for what is known in the industry as the open
source software movement with Netscape's browser and Sun's Java program.
Open source software has become popular with a growing number of
programmers who see it as an alternative to the perceived stranglehold by
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)on new innovations through its dominant Windows
operating system.
The e-mail software is available on IBM's alphaWorks Web site.
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Received on Tue Dec 15 20:44:23 1998