Platte River Power Authority Selects CipherOptics to Protect DCS Network

--NERC deadline prompts Utility Provider to encrypt network.--

Raleigh, NC, February 16, 2010- CipherOptics, a leader in scalable data protection, announced today that Platte River Power Authority is protecting its Digital Control System (DCS) information with the CipherOptics CEP line of standards-based encryptors and CipherEngine, the industry's most scalable policy and key management solution for network encryption.

Platte River Power Authority provides wholesale electric power to four municipal electric systems in northern Colorado. As a utility provider, they are subject to many regulations, including the NERC Reliability Standards. With a looming NERC compliance deadline, Platte River Power Authority needed to encrypt its DCS information between the human-machine interfaces (HMI) and various control systems.

"We needed a solution that operated natively to Layer 2 because our control systems do not support routing" said Paul Crosby, CIP Compliance Officer, Platte River Power Authority. "The CipherOptics solution inserted seamlessly into our existing infrastructure without impacting the operation or performance of our DCS."

The approaching deadline meant that Platte River Power Authority also needed a solution that could be installed quickly and easily. "The solution was so easy to install that one of our electrical engineering interns did it," added Crosby. "The ease of ongoing management and the redundant capabilities of the CipherOptics solution really set it apart from the other vendors we evaluated."

CipherOptics protects sensitive information for a growing number of Utility Providers, Fortune 100 companies and government agencies around the world. The CEP line of encryptors offers 10Mbps to 1Gbps wire-speed encryption for any Ethernet or MPLS network, with 10Gbps available in late 2010. CipherEngine, a breakthrough policy and key management solution, makes it easy to deploy and manage network encryption, regardless of scale or network infrastructure.

About CipherOptics
CipherOptics is the leader in multi-layer encryption solutions for high performance networks. The Company provides advanced IPsec VPN and encryption solutions for wide area networks, and enables secure connectivity to private and public clouds. CipherOptics helps organizations improve security, decrease risk, and reduce the cost of compliance while enabling high performance and secure connectivity to critical infrastructures.