Product News: Cross-platform Product Release Helps Customers Comply with Upcoming NIST Changes

PKWARE® customers may be affected by upcoming changes announced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). To help customers comply with these NIST updates, PKWARE released new versions of PKZIP® and SecureZIP® on August 2, 2010.

The NIST is responsible for developing the standards and guidance for the cryptography used by Federal Government Agencies. This includes defining appropriate algorithms and cryptographic strengths suitable for meeting Federal Government security needs.

The NIST recently published a change to one of their standards, which will be of importance to organizations that use FIPS Mode for encryption processing. If FIPS Mode processing is important for your data protection or compliance policies, you will need to update your PKZIP or SecureZIP software prior to the end of 2010.


Therefore, PKWARE has recently released the following new product versions:

• SecureZIP for Server v12.5
• PKZIP for Server v12.5
• SecureZIP for i5/OS® v10.0.5
• ZIP Reader v12.5
• SecureZIP Partner for Windows® desktop v12.5
• SecureZIP Partner for Server v12.5
• SecureZIP Partner for i5/OS v10.0.5
• SecureZIP Partner for z/OS® v12.0

In addition, other new features include:

PKZIP/SecureZIP for Server v12.5

• Mainframe hardware decompression
• Wavpack extraction
• Option to ZIP open files (new feature for Windows Server)

SecureZIP for i5/OS v10.0.5

• Mainframe hardware decompression
• 1Step from tape

ZIP Reader v12.5

• Mainframe hardware decompression
• Wavpack extraction

To learn if your PKWARE product is affected by the upcoming NIST changes, read this PKZIP/SecureZIP Product Update or feel free to call us at 888.4.PKWARE or 414.289.9788. We’re happy to help!