BROKAT Informationssysteme GmbH, a German software company, has received approval from the Commerce Department for the use and export by U.S. banks of their 128-bit X-PRESSO Security Package. This product uses Java applets sent by the bank's server to the customer's web browser to create a secure link between the bank and the customer using 128-bit encryption. The Commerce Department approval does two things. It allows for the transmission of the applets from servers located inside the U.S. to customers located outside the U.S. It also permits U.S. banks to export the servers to their foreign branches and subsidiaries. Attached below is BROKAT's press release.

The BROKAT Informationssysteme GmbH, based Germany, announced today it has obtained U.S. Government approval for U.S. Banks to freely use its strong 128-bit Java encryption software, the X-PRESSO Security Package to secure online financial transactions worldwide.

BROKAT's X-PRESSO Security Package=E4 employs Java technology to create a strong encryption link between a bank and its customers - no matter where the customer is located and no matter how weak the encryption that comes with the customer's web browser. When the financial institution's web site is accessed using a standard web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, a Java "X-PRESSO Transaction Applet" is loaded and executed in the customer's browser. The applet creates a secure connection between the customer and the bank's X-PRESSO Security Server using powerful 128-bit encryption. The X-PRESSO encryption is a streamlined variant of the SSL protocol and can be executed on top of any existing transport encryption between standard browsers and web servers.

The export approvals that BROKAT received from the U.S. Commerce Department came in two parts. First, BROKAT obtained a classification for the Java Transaction Applets which X-PRESSO uses to transport data to the customer. This classification guarantees that a U.S. Bank does not need to obtain an export license to transmit the applets from servers located in the United States to customers located outside the United States. Second, the Commerce Department granted a license arrangement for the servers themselves allowing U.S. Banks to buy the servers in bulk, add applications and then export them to their foreign branches and subsidiaries. Unlike most export approvals for products containing strong encryption, neither of these approvals require that the encryption keys used by the X-PRESSO Security Package be escrowed with a trusted third party or be otherwise recoverable.

"We sought approval for U.S. banks because we are interested, in providing these trustworthy companies the best global coverage for highly secure, integrated Internet banking solutions", said Stefan Roever, managing partner of BROKAT. "A great advantage of the X-PRESSO Security Package is that it is a proven solution, widely used for Internet banking today and ready to ship to new customers worldwide". X-PRESSO is a secure gateway of the online transaction platform BROKAT Twister currently being implemented in several 100 European internet banking solutions. One of the first banks using the BROKAT technology was Bank 24, a subsidiary of the German Deutsche Bank. They already started Internet banking with X-PRESSO secured payment services in October 1996. Today over 15 000 customers use the multi feature Java Internet banking and brokerage application.

The interest of U.S. Banks in the BROKAT solutions is high. At least one global player of the U.S. Banks will implement X-PRESSO and other Twister components in it's worldwide subsidiaries in the next weeks. Several further U.S. banks are already evaluating the BROKAT solutions.

BROKAT Informationssysteme GmbH (http://www.brokat.com) located in Boeblingen, Germany, has rapidly developed into Europe's leading provider of software solutions for secure Internet banking solutions. At present a lot of banks have decided to use BROKAT technology. Among them Deutsche Bank, Bank 24, Allianz and several 100 cooperative banks and saving banks in Germany and Austria. The core of the solutions is the BROKAT Twister online transaction platform and the Twister gateway X-PRESSO Security Package. BROKAT is also one of Europe's leading provider of Internet payment solutions and AOL transaction solutions. It has subsidiaries in London (GB), Zurich (CH) and Singapore (SG). A US subsidiary will be founded in the next weeks.

For further information: BROKAT Informationssysteme GmbH Marie-Ann Maushart Hanns-Klemm-Str. 5 D - 71034 Boeblingen Tel. ++49 (0) 70 31 / 71 71 - 0 Fax: ++49 (0) 70 31 / 71 71 - 771 E-mail: Click Contact Link

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