Infonet Announces Off-Net Internet VPN Service

March 28, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Infonet Services Corporation (infonet.com), a leading supplier of global communications services to multinational enterprises, announced on Thursday the release of the IVPN Off-Net Service, the company’s new managed end-to-end secure communication service.

The IVPN Off-Net Service, says Infonet, allows the company’s clients to extend their VPNs using ISPs to establish secure end-to-end connectivity with Infonet’s World Network. IVPN Off-Net uses IPSec tunneling and encryption to provide secure dedicated connections between client sites, using the public Internet as transport.

Also available to clients using Infonet’s Dedicated Internet Access, the IVPN Off-Net offering includes full VPN management and customer care.

Among the advantages of the public Internet-based VPN, says Infonet, are cost savings and flexible means of connectivity. Infonet is able to use its global infrastructure to implement encryption quickly, using digital certificates to create authenticated extranet transactions.

"The ability to extend VPNs securely to locations beyond current reach is exactly the type of fully-managed network agnostic service clients are seeking," says Mark Winther, group vice president of worldwide telecommunications for IDC. "Infonet's IVPN Off-Net provides multinational corporations with a consistent security and management platform for connectivity to both remote internal sites and to extranet users such as business partners that are not on Infonet's network."

The IVPN Off-Net Service, says Infonet, takes advantage of Certificate Authority services provided by third party, VeriSign, chosen by Infonet for its reputation as well as its established infrastructure and security practices.

"In a time where online security and privacy are a major issue to multinational enterprises everywhere, Infonet has recognized the demand for expanded services to address these concerns," says Jean-Noel Moneton, vice president of Internet services for Infonet. "Our IVPN Off-Net service allows our clients to fully leverage the reach of the Internet for access anywhere while taking advantage of Infonet as a single point of contact to manage worldwide data security."