Secure Computing (securecomputing.com) is a company that started out as a part of a bigger company, and later sought its own path. Originally founded as a division of Honeywell in 1984, the company spun off in 1989 and entered the public trading market in 1995. Since then, Secure Computing has specialized in online security, with a selection of network management, firewall, and VPN products, and boasts over 50 patents granted or pending.

Secure has three VPN offerings, all of which are software based. One is the gateway itself, another is the client, while the third is management software. In all three cases, the VPN is targeted towards enterprise-level businesses.

The gateway is named Sidewinder, which Secure claims has never been compromised. Sidewinder is a combination firewall/VPN gateway based around Secure's SecureOS platform, which allows the software to protect itself from intruders. The gateway is easily updated, allowing it to make use of current protocols as they are approved. Additionally, not only is Sidewinder designed to be centrally managed from any Windows platform on the network, but it uses a split DNS service to prevent Denial of Service attacks.

Secure's management software is named PremierAccess; it is allows access control to be centrally managed on the network from a variety of different platforms, including Windows, Unix, Citrix, and the Internet. The software is compatible with several different types of authentication, including role-based authentication and brokered authentication to external systems.

The client, known as the Soft-PK VPN Client, is ICSA and IPSec certified. What makes this client special is its flexibility; not only does it run on all of the recent Windows platforms, but it can also support multiple connections to multiple VPN gateways. Additionally, it can be installed custom configured, cutting down on the amount of work the administrator has to do to set up remote users and offices.

Secure Computing can be contacted via their Web site, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at 1-800-379-4944. Additional contact information, including regional offices, can be found on the Web site.