Neil Munro, Sydney
Banksia Targets World Modem Market
Banksia Technology has received a commission from industry leader Microcom Inc of the US to design modem technology.
The US giant has selected Banksia as a development partner for data communications products that will be distributed on a global basis. This strategic alliance was recently cemented when Microcom acquired a minority interest in Banksia. The commission announcement coincides with Banksia's unveiling of a new high-end, high-security modem.
Banksia's Technology's Citadel Modem
As one of the fastest growing private companies in Australia, Banksia Technology has doubled in size each year since its inception in 1988. Its continuing success and R&D expertise in modem technology attracted the attention of Microcom Inc of the US, a world leader in remote access communications.
As a result, this year Microcom selected Banksia as a development partner for data communications products that will be distributed on a global basis. This strategic alliance was recently cemented when Microcom acquired a minority interest in Banksia.
Chy Chuawiwat, regional manager Microcom Australia, said: "This agreement is a big step forward for Banksia into the international market. It is also a confirmation of Microcom's solid commitment to this region."
Banksia currently exports to New Zealand and Asia. Distribution partnerships have been developed in Singapore and Hong Kong, while Banksia's products are also integrated into hardware exported by large OEMs such as IBM, AST, Apple and Unisys.
"For popular feature set products, Australian modem makers find it hard to compete in the Asian market," said David Stewart, Banksia's managing director. "The sheer volume of modems produced by, say Taiwan, naturally brings the costs down. The answer for us lies in creating sophisticated devices with specific niche appeal."
Stewart believes Banksia's latest product, the Pro Series and Citadel range of professional modems, has enormous export potential, particularly throughout Asia. The modem provides 24-bit RISC technology for mission-critical operations and uses new encryption and security technology developed by Banksia.
"There is a great demand for this type of modem in the corporate and government arena where quality, performance and features are the main priorities. Banking, insurance, government and financial institutions, especially in Asia, are crying out for high-speed encryption modems with high processing power," he said.
"With the number of computer networks rapidly expanding and remote access and telecommuting taking off, the Pro Series will undoubtedly find a significant market niche in the region and achieve fast growth."
Encryption Processors Provide SecurityUsing the Banksia Secure Network Architecture (BSNA) developed by Banksia Technology, the Citadel employs a dedicated encryption processor to provide tamper-proof security. Stewart said that this design makes the Citadel an ideal choice for those industries requiring absolute security, such as banking, defence, law, taxation and insurance.
Implementing DES, the worldwide encryption standard, the Citadel incorporates 56-bit Chained Cipher DES, authentication prior to encryption and unique session key generation for each call. Because no key is ever transmitted across the link there is no possibility of unauthorised users accessing the key and decoding vital information.
Banksia's Stewart
Microcom Australia's Chuawiwat
The separate encryption processor also relieves the standard processor from its normal data compression and error correction functions, allowing additional processing power for multilevel security.
The BSNA's architecture also allows organisations to substitute new or specially developed encryption algorithms once they become available, future-proofing the modem and allowing full customisation to individual requirements.
Security features include password, dialback and second line dialback capabilities. With the latter, callers attempting to access network information can be called back on a second line, eliminating the possibility of unauthorised persons 'camping' on the line in an attempt to break into the network.
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