In addition to traditional criteria like cost and reliability, they must now also consider the impact of increasingly sophisticated attacks by malicious hackers, tougher security laws, and growing public concern about information privacy.

Standard Networks has created siLock to help public and private organizations to securely collect, protect, and manage sensitive data over TCP/IP networks -- in an easy, reliable, and cost-effective manner.

While siLock was developed to meet the requirements of financial institutions, its capabilities can be applied to business problems faced by many organizations. siLock handles:

Web Form Data -- such as personal, business, financial, legal, and medical information.

Electronic Files -- such as sales proposals, payroll files, financial spreadsheets, HR records, auditor and consultant reports, M&A and reorganization plans, software updates and backups, and legal documents.

siLock is being used for secure B2C, B2B, and internal information exchange. A single siLock server can be licensed by an organization to serve its customers, partners, and employees, or on an ASP basis to allow multiple organizations to independently brand and use it.

With siLock, customers, partners, and employees can use standard SSL-capable browsers to submit sensitive data via web forms. Authorized persons can use browsers to exchange confidential files via siLock. And IS staff can use siLock's Automated Transfer Client (ATC) to automatically exchange files between siLock and other systems.

1. Securely Stores Files -- siLock stores files using state-of-the-art encryption, so if it is broken into the intruder cannot read or make use of information in the files.
2. Notifies Designated Users -- siLock sends out email when information arrives, so time is not wasted checking whether it has arrived, and so there are no delays in responding to the information.
3. Records File Audit Trail -- Unlike FTP servers that record one huge log file covering every file handled, siLock creates a detailed, easily accessible record for each individual item it receives.