Cellcrypt Launches Secure Cell Phone Conference Calling

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellcrypt (www.cellcrypt.com), the leading provider of secure mobile voice calling, today announced that it has launched a secure conference service that provides both device authentication and voice call encryption to participants using popular cell phones like BlackBerry® and Nokia smartphones.

Organizations depend on conference calls to run their daily operations and often discuss confidential and highly sensitive information on calls such as sales, supplier and executive management meetings, intellectual property discussions, high value business deal talks, crisis management calls or even discussions concerning disaster scenarios and national security.

But traditional conference calling services are open to abuse through unauthorized access. Where access security is in place for conference calls, it is often poorly managed with dial-in details and PINs seldom changing. A commonly reported scenario is for ex-employees to continue to access regular conference calls or pass details to unauthorized personnel.

Furthermore, as participants have become more dispersed, they often access conference calls using cell phones, which are increasingly at risk of interception.

The Cellcrypt Secure Conference Service both authenticates the participant's cell phone and encrypts conversations end-to-end between each participant and the conference bridge, to ensure important conversations, from team briefings to board calls, remain confidential.

"Conference calls by their very nature typically contain some of the most sensitive and confidential information an organization has," said Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO at Cellcrypt. "These calls are highly desirable to attackers, who know just how valuable the information is. As the risk of cellular interception has increased so has the vulnerability of mobile executives accessing conference calls from the mobile phones. Organizations should urgently review their communications practices and act to protect their mission-critical conference calls."

The conference calling service is easy-to-use, with participants simply selecting a bridge number from their Cellcrypt Mobile enabled Blackberry or Nokia smartphone to enter the call. Office phones can also securely participate in conference calls when connected via Cellcrypt's Enterprise Gateway solution.

Organizations can manage conference calls using a simple web console to define all users that may access the conferencing service, create bridge numbers, define policies such as user white lists and additional access PINs. Optionally, a bridge may allow access from selected public payphone using Caller ID and PINs for authentication in geographies where the threat of interception is regarded as controlled (the call segments from public telephones are not encrypted).

The service builds on Cellcrypt's existing solutions that provide encrypted voice calls on cell phones, such as BlackBerry and Nokia smartphones, delivering government-grade security in an easy-to-use application that makes highly secure calling as easy as making a normal phone call. Utilizing the IP data channel it supports all major wireless networks, Wi-Fi® and satellite. Encryption is government-grade and certified to FIPS 140-2 standard by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

About Cellcrypt

Cellcrypt is the leading provider of technology to secure mobile voice calls on everyday smartphones. Founded in 2005, Cellcrypt's R&D innovation resulted in Encrypted Mobile Content Protocol (EMCP), an Internet Protocol (IP) based technology that optimizes delivery of encrypted data between mobile devices over wireless networks.

Cellcrypt's products are validated to the FIPS 140-2 standard approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), operate over data-enabled networks including 2G (GPRS/EDGE), 3G (HSPA, CDMA/EV-DO) and Wi-Fi®, and are optimized to run on Nokia® Symbian and BlackBerry® smartphones. Cellcrypt is a BlackBerry® Alliance Partner and Inmarsat Connect Partner.

Today, Cellcrypt solutions are used routinely by governments, enterprises and senior-level executives worldwide. Cellcrypt is a privately-held, venture-backed company with headquarters in London, UK and offices in USA and Middle East.

For more information please visit: www.cellcrypt.com

Cellcrypt's NIST FIPS 140-2 certificate can be found here: http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/1401val2010.htm#1310

SOURCE Cellcrypt