FDLE Invests its Trust in SPYRUS PKI, Again

By Rahul Prabhakar

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Dwelling under the shadow of terrorism, humanity has forgotten how to breathe freely and fearlessly. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it’s understood that the terrorist groups with the aim of getting themselves heard can target both the citizens and assets of any country.

To avert such unfortunate occurrences and prevent terrorist attacks of high magnitude, sharing of authentic information (classified and sensitive) has become imperative.

Hence, intelligence agencies all over the world are working in collaboration with each other. In addition, they are being assisted by the companies manufacturing innovative security solutions.



Spyrus Inc. develops security management software and devices to aid these agencies in their security operations. With its headquarters in California, the company, since its initiation in 1992, has made its presence felt globally with the manufacture and deployment of state-of-the-art technology.

Recently, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), one of Spyrus’s clients, declared that they are going to extend the usage of the SPYRUS Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) solution, a system which facilitates verification of the security agency officials before allowing them access sensitive databases. Satisfied with its operational efficiency, the FDLE has plans to triple the count of certificate licenses it’s currently using.

“We are pleased that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has again invested in SPYRUS as its security vendor of choice for PKI,” said Tom Dickens, chief operating officer of SPYRUS, in a press release. “This deployment is exactly the sort of environment for information sharing that the SPYRUS PKI System was designed to secure. We are pleased to play such a strong role in data protection for FDLE.”

To begin with, FDLE deployed around 10,000 units of the SPYRUS PKI System v5.0 solution in the year 2001 within its network, but soon the number was raised to 26,000.

According to the current deal, not only is the number further raised to 80,000 units, but FDLE will now also receive an up graded latest version of the SPYRUS PKI (v6.5). In addition, they will also install the LYNKS Series II Hardware Security Modules, which will aid the agency to offer its services to approximately 300 law enforcement agencies.

Custom-made for FDLE’s requirements, the SPYRUS PKI goes well with the agency’s network infrastructure.

Don Sherman, acting CIO of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said in a press release, “We have found that the SPYRUS PKI is the best fit to meet our unique requirements for information sharing between law enforcement agencies and officers in Florida. The flexibility of implementation and high assurance security made this the ideal choice for our environment.”

Initially, the SPYRUS PKI System was adopted by the FDLE under the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) sponsored initiative. However, in no time the technology was distributed all over the state, making use of Florida’s rely network (Criminal Justice Network or CJNet).

Currently with around 300 agencies linked together by this network, a wide range of information flowing within Florida’s certified law enforcing agencies ranging across 800 key locations can be accessed.

FDLE has also decided to use the advanced SPYRUS LYNKS Series II Registration Authority (RA) and Certificate Authority (CA) HSMs with a view to facilitate the application of the latest commercial algorithms. Certified as “Suite B” by the US government, these HSMs aid in safeguarding the complete security infrastructure.

Spyrus’s products fulfill the US and Canadian Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 norms and their authentication and reliability has been tested under adverse circumstances. Trusted and recommended, its products have lent a security shield for many years.

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Rahul Prabhakar is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.