Sun Microsystems, Echoworx and Lucent Technologies have announced the launch of Sun Secure Mail, a fully-hosted managed service that will make it possible for any email subscriber to benefit from increased security and privacy protection in their email communications.

Sun Secure Mail is one of the first subscription-based, fully-hosted services that give individuals the ability to encrypt their email at their desktop, without changing their email application. Sun Secure Mail is managed by the complementary expertise of Sun and Lucent Technologies, and powered by the email encryption software technology of Echoworx.

Lucent will host the service at its Global Network Operations Centers worldwide. The new Sun Secure Mail service will be offered to any email service provider, such as ISPs and Cable and Multiple-Service Operators, as a Managed Service from Sun. Service Providers can immediately re-brand Sun Secure Mail and offer it as an instant-on service to their email subscribers for a premium.

"Internet messaging is no longer a ’nice-to-have’; it is a business-critical communication tool. As with any Internet-based communication comes vulnerability: these messages are vulnerable to being intercepted, triggering the crucial need for email privacy protection," said Andy Sheldon, executive director, partner and industry marketing, Sun Microsystems. "We are essentially delivering IT as a service. Rather than worry about the infrastructure needed to set this up themselves, the ISP or email provider can offer it quickly to customers as a hosted service."

"Anyone with a bit of know-how can easily intercept email as it travels through cyberspace and gain access to business and personal information," warned Michael Ginsberg, chief executive officer of Echoworx. "Consumers and enterprises are looking for ways to secure their Internet communication. Echoworx, Lucent and Sun have launched a service that is reliable and cost-effective and that can be quickly and seamlessly deployed. ISPs offering Sun Secure Mail will not only increase revenues, but also capture new customers by enabling anyone with an email account to sign-up for the service."

"The agreement with Sun expands our portfolio of managed services offerings and positions us to grow faster than the market by rapidly deploying value-added managed services solutions to our customers," said David Dial, vice president, managed services, Lucent Worldwide Services. "By working with Sun and Echoworx, we can ensure our customers have a secure email solution that can be fully managed and hosted from our carrier-class Global Network Operations Center facilities."

The Sun Secure Mail is a complementary offering to the secure email capabilities of Sun’s Java Communications Suite. It can be deployed to work with any existing messaging infrastructure. Sun Secure Mail is immediately available in the United States.