Polycom Market-Leading Video Conferencing Systems First to Achieve High Government Security Certification

July 25, 2007

Source: Polycom

Polycom, Inc..the world's leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced that its market leading, industry standard VSX(TM) line of video conferencing products is the first from any vendor to receive Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Validation: Security Requirements for Cryptograhic Modules. This designation recognizes Polycom's commitment to providing government and enterprise customers with advanced security standards compliance. The Polycom VSX systems are the only video conferencing line on the market to achieve full FIPS 140-2 validation.

"Polycom has shown tremendous commitment to its customers by achieving FIPS 140-2 validation of the VSX series," said Matthew Appler, CEO, Corsec Security, Inc., a consulting firm working with Polycom to complete the FIPS 140-2 validation process. "Having undergone rigorous testing, the VSX product line sets the security standard for all video conferencing products and is now a recognized solution for securely transmitting sensitive government information as well as for collaboration and content sharing."

FIPS 140-2 validation is a requirement for any cryptographic product used in a U.S. government agency network. Federal agencies with mandates to procure, retain and use only FIPS 140-2 validated equipment can now acquire and connect Polycom video conferencing equipment to their networks with confidence that the information being transmitted is secure. In addition, enterprise customers, such as banking and investment firms seeking to protect against industrial espionage, can rely on Polycom VSX solutions to transmit information requiring a higher level of security to protect critical information.

"Implementing secure communication technologies is the number one concern for many Government agencies and this validation of standards is in many cases a mandatory requirement," said Barry Morris, vice president of Federal Systems for Polycom. "By offering the first ever FIPS-certified video conferencing systems, Polycom is providing a secure means to collaborate and share critical images and visual communications. This validation is part of an ongoing commitment from Polycom to meet the stringent security requirements of our Government customers."

FIPS 140-2 is a U.S. government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules and certify private sector vendor products for use in government departments and regulated industries that collect, store, transfer, share and disseminate sensitive, but un-classified information. The standard is part of a joint effort by NIST and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and has been adopted by both U.S. and Canadian governments.

Four levels of security are available. The Polycom VSX line has received a Level 1 certification, which provides basic security requirements and allows the software and firmware components of a cryptographic module to be executed on a general purpose computing system using an unevaluated operating system. The VSX 3000, VSX 5000 and VSX 7000 are validated for FIPS 140-2 Level 1 security under Certificate #798 -- TID 0756-0892 and the VSX 7000e and VSX 8000 are certified under Certificate #799 -- TID 1188-1033.

With the VSX Release 8.5, Polycom VSX video conferencing solutions added several security features including Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 using 168-bit Triple-DES, HTTPS, Secure Telnet, Secure FTP, Secure Softupdate and Security Mode. Due to these security features, the Polycom VSX solutions were added to the FIPS 140-2 pre-validation list in May of 2006, making Polycom the first video conferencing equipment vendor to offer solutions that meet the rigorous security requirements for FIPS 140-2 pre-validation.

The Polycom Spectralink(TM) Wireless Telephones are currently on the FIPS 140-2 pre-validation list. The full range of FIPS-compliant Polycom collaboration products supports the company's commitment to providing users with a high degree of security assurance and dependability.

Pricing & Availability

Polycom VSX solutions are currently available worldwide through Polycom channel partners. North America list prices start at US$3,999 for room systems and US$4,999 for executive desktop models.

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