Candle ships MQSecure middleware
The software maker ships a new tool for securing networked communications using MQSeries message queuing middleware.
Use of messaging middleware is on the rise, according to Forrester Research. Big-name applications include MQSeries and Microsoft's forthcoming Microsoft Message Queuing software.
The software is used to pass messages among various dissimilar networked applications. The software makes sure that messages are delivered across the network by storing them in a queue and forwarding them when networked systems are online and ready to receive the messages.
That fault-tolerant aspect of message queuing software makes it popular among large companies that transmit crucial information across networks. Banks conducting monetary transactions are a good example.
Of 50 Fortune 1,000 companies polled by Forrester for a recent study, 60 percent use messaging middleware now and 70 percent plan to within two years.
One problem with messaging middleware, such as MQSeries, is that it lacks heavy-duty security tools to protect messages broadcast over the network from being hijacked.
MQSecure adds security to MQSeries in the form of user and machine validation, to ensure that a message sent is indeed from the system or user that sent it. Also included is message validation software that makes sure messages are not intercepted and changed. Non-repudiation proves that a user actually sent a message, even if that user denies it. And encryption software from RSA Data Security makes sure that even if messages are intercepted, they appear as useless gibberish.
MQSecure is priced from $800 per network node. It works with MQSeries communications on Windows, IBM's AIX Unix, and MVS operating systems.