With the recent spate of viruses, hack attacks, and identity theft, cryptography
and security has moved beyond the venue of mathematicians and technologists. But
it's no less complicated.

Security aficionados and vendors are gathered this week at the RSA Conference
here, where a host of new products and services are being unveiled to better
secure enterprise networks, the Internet, and the wireless Web. But while everyone
agrees security and privacy are essential in this networked age, concurring
on protocols and standards isn't easy.

Hardware to block hackers

Shifting the burden from software firewalls into hardware accessories is the
aim of some devices announced here. 3Com Corp. and Secure Computing Corp. announced
the 3Com Embedded Firewall, which puts firewall security into the 3Com 10/100
network interface card. Designed for medium to large businesses, the 3Com Embedded
Firewall is also appropriate for people who occasionally work at home, says
John Harrison, a 3Com product line manager.

When corporate users work at home, you need to ensure the corporate network
is protected, Harrison says. An embedded firewall can't be turned off by the
user, so the technology department knows the network is secure, he adds. License
prices for the firewall depend on quantity of seats and servers, but a starter
pack consisting of one server and the hardware and software for ten desktop
clients will retail for $2114 when it ships in the third quarter.

Home users could also find new hardware protection products at RSA. Saafnet
demonstrated its AlphaShield, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) add-on designed for
broadband users. Rather than block unwanted traffic while you're online, AlphaShield
physically disconnects you whenever you're not actively accessing information
on the Web, says Vikash Sami, Saafnet chief executive and president.

"When you browse the Web for a couple hours, you're really only on the
Internet for a few minutes," Sami says. "Our device lets you get the
information you need, then it automatically disconnects you. It reconnects you
as soon as you get more information."

AlphaShield is scheduled to ship by midyear, priced at $149 and distributed
through ISPs. Saafnet is so confident in its technology that the company offers
a $1,000,000 challenge to anyone who can hack it.

Safety in software

RSA also featured a slew of antivirus and encryption software tools. Computer
Associates launched InoculateIT 6.0 for Windows, the latest release in its enterprise
antivirus product line. Inoculate 6.0 features continual virus-checking and
more secure updates. CA also plans to integrate the software with third party
technologies, such as EMC's Celerra File Server for network-attached storage.

ZixIt demonstrated ZixMail, an encryption tool that consumers and businesses
can use to create encrypted e-mail. ZixMail is a viewer and composer tool that
works with most

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