PKWARE Sets SecureZIP Free with PartnerLink

Updated: February 22, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Sensing that some of its largest customers weren't satisfied with the free Windows-based SecureZIP reader it launched in 2004, PKWARE this week unveiled a new product and a new licensing program it hopes will spur adoption of its cross-platform SecureZIP utility. In addition to being free to the partners of SecureZIP "sponsor" licensees, the new SecureLink product can generate protected documents, not just read them, and runs on all PKWARE-supported platforms, including the iSeries.

PKWARE had motivation to build on the introduction of SecureZIP, a utility designed to compress, encrypt, and distribute sensitive data and documents among heterogeneous partner networks. While the product worked across all major platforms, and enabled users to securely share documents no matter which version of SecureZIP they were running, some users had difficulty convincing their trading partners to use the free Windows-based reader, or to plunk down the cash for a full copy of SecureZIP.

"What we saw was a need in the business environment . . . to not only open and decrypt, but to create and exchange files, between business partners and their sponsor organization," says Barry Goss, senior vice president of alliances with the Wisconsin software company. "We couldn't constrain those partners to operating just on the Windows platform, so we started thinking, how do we take this concept of a reader, and up-market it, so it's available on all platforms, and it's not just a reader, but can write as well as read?" Goss says.

What PKWARE came up with is PartnerLink, a new product (actually, it's more of a creative new way of packing and distributing the existing SecureZIP product) that it is officially unveiling this week at the RSA Security conference in San Jose, California.

For a fee, a SecureZIP user can upgrade to the PartnerLink program, and become what PKWARE calls a sponsor organization. As a result, this sponsor organization can distribute as many copies of SecureZIP to as many partners as they like. These PartnerLink versions of SecureZIP can run on any supported platform, including OS/400, z/OS, Unix, Linux, and Windows, and these partners can also create and send their own SecureZIP documents, instead of just reading (through the free Windows-based reader) documents packaged by SecureZIP licensees.

The only catch is PartnerLink can only be used to create and distribute SecureZIP documents between a sponsor and its partners. PKWARE has baked into PartnerLink a digital signature that prevents the software from being used by anybody except the sponsor and the partners, and the partners can only use the software to communicate directly with its sponsor.

SecureZIP encrypts data using 3DES and AES algorithms, and uses either passwords or Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates for authentication. The software, which has embedded FTP and e-mail servers, can also be used to protect data stored to physical media, including tapes and optical media. Other goodies included with PartnerLink include a Web site for helping sponsors to distribute the software to its partners, and free technical support for sponsors and all of their partners.

The free support was a big deal to Fidelity Information Services (FIS), a giant in the mortgage processing industry, and one of the early adopters of PartnerLink, says Tim Kennedy, president and COO of PKWARE "The fact that we provide support was big on both sides" to FIS and its partners, Kennedy says. An open library product with no professional support was FIS' only alternative to using PartnerLink, he says.

In addition to professional support, cross-platform interoperability also endeared FIS to PartnerLink, Kennedy says. FIS uses SecureZIP to protect documents originating from mainframes and Unix servers, but it faced an awkward situation asking its partners, including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, the IRS, and other large and influential organizations, to either use the Windows reader to accept sensitive documents from FIS, or to buy their own version of SecureZIP.

FIS didn't know exactly what server operating systems its customers were using, and frankly, it didn't want to go down that road, Kennedy says. "The thing we learned with large customers is one size does not fit all. Some want to run on mainframe, Unix, Linux, or Windows," Kennedy says. "It's hard to get a census of exactly what they want to run on."

With PartnerLink, FIS can give each partner the version of SecureZIP that works best for them. There are two primary versions of SecureZIP: one for Unix, Linux, and Windows, and a separate version developed specifically for the iSeries and the mainframe.

FIS is currently implementing PartnerLink, according to PKWARE. Joe Nackashi, chief technology officer for FIS, says SecureZIP will be used to protect sensitive data types, such as customer names, account numbers, social security numbers, and bank balances. "PartnerLink provides the ideal solution," Nackashi says. "It is simple to implement, efficient, and it integrates easily into our partner's computing environments and their existing security infrastructures."

PKWARE is charging a premium for participation in the PartnerLink program, and with good reason. The starting point for the PartnerLink program on the Windows-Linux-Unix version of the product costs about $30,000, while it starts at "just shy" of $80,000 for the iSeries and mainframe version. These are for the enterprise versions of the SecureZIP.

Compare these prices with the single-server license for SecureZIP for iSeries, which starts at $7,900 for the basic version of SecureZIP that uses password-based authentication. That price jumps to $9,100 for the version of SecureZIP with the Advanced Encryption Module (AEM) for PKI certificate-based authentication. The enterprise version of the product includes the AEM and a Director Integration Module for LDAP integration, and starts at $10,300 per iSeries or mainframe server.

With these prices, it is clear that PKWARE is targeting PartnerLink at larger companies with bigger trading networks (indeed, it claims 50 of the Global 200 companies as SecureZIP customers). For a company with half-a-dozen trading partners, it would be more cost effective for the organization to license individual copies of SecureZIP and distribute them to partners. With 10 or more partners, it would be smarter to go with PartnerLink and the greater operational flexibility and professional technical support that it brings.

For more information, go to www.pkware.com.