Startup Says its ASL Protocol Fixes Fundamental Flaws with SSL
Operating in stealth mode for the better part of five years, Toronto, Canada based Federated Networks, an Internet security software firm that launched in September at the DEMO Conference, received some validation and a vote of confidence that the company is on track with its initiatives to protect users from some of the most pervasive threat vectors.
With the goal of replacing the common SSL encryption protocol used by many Web sites with its new Application Secure Layer (ASL) Protocol, the company may now be one step closer to its goal. Federated Networks this week announced that the BT Ethical Hacking Center confirmed that Federated Networks’ ASL protocol eliminates pervasive vulnerabilities inherent in the known limitations and weaknesses of current SSL implementations.
In independent testing, Federated Networks’ ASL protocol thwarted network-centric security attacks such as phishing, pharming, DNS Poisoning, and proxying, or more generally all forms of man-in-the-middle (M-I-M) attacks. Federated Networks claims its ASL protocol is materially more secure than existing SSL implementations that are common today.
The company says that this testing is the first in a series of ethical hacking vulnerability assessments that will be performed by BT’s Ethical Hacking Center to its “FN Connect Secure Architecture,” designed to help consumers, enterprises and governments be secure.
Federated Networks says its solutions effectively immunize users from broad classes of known attack vectors on systems and data by adding a “Neutralize” layer to the existing layered software security model of “Prevent, Detect, Monitor and Recover.” BT’s tests help validate this claim.
The second and third elements of BT’s testing related to the FN Connect Secure Architecture, namely the vulnerability testing of the FN Connect Secure Client and Agent, are expected to be finalized in the next 30 days.
The company plans to unveil additional details on other component of its FN Connect Securely initiatives in the coming months.