Encryption products unveiled
Information Resource Engineering Inc., a White Marsh-based provider of computer security systems, announced yesterday that it has rolled out a family of products that combines two leading forms of encryption technology for secure communications on the Internet.
The company said the SafeNet products are designed for organizations that want to conduct business on the Internet but are concerned about a lack of security.
The products include an encrypting "fire wall" that protects against common Internet security problems, a 28.8 kilobit-per-second encrypting modem and a program for managing encryption keys.
All the products incorporate both public key and private key technologies, two leading forms of scrambling messages, the company said.
Security card to be marketed
Computer Data Systems Inc. of Rockville said yesterday that it will market a computer card system designed to speed passenger boarding and improve security at airports.
The firm said its Automated Biometric Identification System will store uniquely individual information, such as fingerprints, on a smart card containing a computer chip. Frequent travelers could register or enroll in the system and use the card to clear security quickly without waiting in lines and to identify baggage, the company said.
Microsoft to offer browser
Microsoft Corp. said it will introduce browser software to navigate the Internet global computer network, in a direct challenge to a groundbreaking product by Netscape Communications Inc.
Microsoft's so-called Internet Explorer allows Internet users to travel fairly easily across the Internet's World Wide Web. It is designed for use with the company's Windows 95 operating system, to be launched Thursday.
Microsoft said its Internet browser is the first to have real-time audio capabilities, allowing users with conventional multimedia personal computers and voice-grade telephone lines to browse, select and play back audio or audio-based multimedia content without delays.
U.S. judge halts rail strike
A federal judge in Jacksonville, Fla., yesterday issued a temporary restraining order and stopped a 10-hour strike by 1,200 railroad maintenance workers that halted trains on a CSX Transportation route through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois and Florida.
Other unions honored the strike of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, who are upset over seniority issues and supervisors doing maintenance work. Pickets dispersed after the order. The judge set an injunction hearing Aug. 28.
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