New Security Features Leverage NDS to Bring Advanced Cryptography Technology to Developers and Corporate Customers

PROVO, Utah — July 27, 1998 — Novell, Inc. today announced plans to incorporate new security capabilities into its upcoming NetWare 5 operating system, providing developers and corporate customers with access to advanced Internet security technology for use in support of enterprise applications on corporate networks. Novell plans to first ship the new security technology this summer in NetWare 5. The new features leverage the unique administrative and management capabilities of NDS™, Novell's leading directory service, and will advance NetWare 5 as the leading platform for secure business transactions.

As more organizations rely on Internet technologies and internal computer networks to conduct their daily business, it is increasingly important and difficult to keep these technologies and networks secure. Novell is adding the following key features in NDS to address such issues:

• Public key security allows organizations to secure their networks by verifying the identity of the server with which the user is communicating. Novell's Public Key Infrastructure Services (PKIS) enable organizations to issue and manage identity-verification messages, or "certificates," to ensure secure communications using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). With Novell's PKIS, customers gain the ability to generate and manage their own certificates. They can also choose to leverage commercial certificate vendors but still benefit from the proven manageability of NDS.

• The new NDS international cryptographic infrastructure simplifies the management of applications that require encryption capabilities for multinational businesses. The infrastructure also saves developers time in creating network applications able to run anywhere in the world consistent with per jurisdiction requirements. This frees developers from the need to build separate applications for each region of the world and to go through lengthy export regulations.

• Integration of SSL version 3 and LDAP version 3 in NDS extends the advanced access control and manageability of NDS to secure LDAP-compliant applications. This allows developers to deliver applications to market quicker with stronger security since NDS provides the necessary infrastructure.

• NDS secure authentication services provide an infrastructure that enables future support and integration of additional methods for authenticating users to applications, such as Kerberos, SOCKS, tokens, smart cards and biometrics.

Novell is enhancing NDS to be the cornerstone of effective and reliable security in Novell products. Because NDS allows network administrators to easily set and change access rights through simple directory-enabled policies, managing and deploying network security becomes quick and painless. Authentication, network auditing and cryptographic service support have all been part of NDS since it was introduced nearly five years ago. Now as NetWare shifts to the Internet Protocol (IP) at its core, NDS provides the foundation on which Novell will create security features that address customer needs as they exist today and as they evolve tomorrow.

NetWare 5, due out later this summer, is the first version of Novell's flagship server operating system to utilize a pure IP environment. It provides an intelligent network infrastructure based on NDS to bring NetWare's strong level of manageability and security to environments based open Internet technologies.

Details of NetWare 5 Security Features

NetWare 5 security features were developed to leverage open standards and widely recognized and accepted technologies. For example, PKIS support enables customers to issue and manage server-side certificates based on the X.509 v 3 standard which can be used to establish a secure LDAP session using SSL v3 encryption. Certificate-based authentication provides an increasingly accepted way for distributed applications to establish identity and trust between systems. Prior to PKIS, customers were required to integrate their own solutions working with multiple vendors, creating an expensive and complex environment. PKIS provides integrated support for server certificates, making it possible for customers to operate their own enterprise certificate authority (CA), while retaining the option to work with commercial certificate providers. Novell will also support user identity and signing certificate products from Entrust via LDAP v3 in NetWare 5, right out of the box.

Support for open protocols in corporate networks can make them more susceptible to intrusion, thus increasing the need for protection of sensitive communications and access to confidential resources. NetWare 5 addresses these issues through systems-level integration of SSL v3. For example, LDAP v3 protocol support over Novell's integrated SSL v3 implementation assures strong identity verification and is integrated with NDS access control for protection of all accessible directory resources. NDS now brings together the best features of fully standard protocol support with Novell's strong security infrastructure - providing a superior foundation for secure intranet applications. This same infrastructure also enables developers to create more secure applications in a shorter timeframe, improving their time to market.

NDS will also address the need of global companies to deploy the strongest cryptography allowed even when standards differ from country to country. Developers often have to create numerous versions of a single application to account for the varying cryptographic standards. In NetWare 5, Novell will deliver the first international cryptographic infrastructure that developers can leverage to receive the appropriate level of encryption for their application (based on the region of the world where the application will be used) without embedding cryptography in the application. Because the infrastructure is integrated with NDS, the cryptography level in the application can be managed according to per jurisdiction policy controls. Application developers will also be freed from lengthy export legal evaluations since Novell's architecture has already been approved for export. Applications using the NDS international architecture will merely need to go through a one time check to validate their use of the infrastructure.

About Novell

Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet/intranet and small-business markets, as well as the network computing industry's most comprehensive education and technical support programs. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks and NDS is a trademark of Novell, Inc. All other registered trademarks and trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Press Contacts:
Katrina Larson
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 861-5593
Internet: kalarson@novell.com

Danielle Epstein
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
Phone: (650) 858-3745
Internet: depstein@ccipr.com