C2Net was an

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

company founded by

Sameer Parekh Sameer Parekh ( hi, समीर परेख) is the founder of C2Net Software, Inc. While in high school in Libertyville, Illinois, he published an underground newspaper called ''The Free Journal'', promoting libertarian ideas. In 1993 Parekh ...

, which was sold to

Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide. Red Hat has become ass ...

in 2000. It was best known for its

Stronghold A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

secure webserver software.

Community ConneXion

C2Net started out as Community ConneXion in 1994, an Internet Privacy Provider similar to an "

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

" providing customers with anonymous Internet services, from

dialup Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

access to email accounts. Community ConneXion implemented the first double-blind anonymous mail forwarding service, aka "

nym server A pseudonymous remailer or nym server, as opposed to an anonymous remailer, is an Internet software program designed to allow people to write pseudonymous messages on Usenet newsgroups and send pseudonymous email. Unlike purely anonymous remailers ...

", as well as being the company that commercialized the

Anonymizer An anonymizer or an anonymous proxy is a tool that attempts to make activity on the Internet untraceable. It is a proxy server computer that acts as an intermediary and privacy shield between a client computer and the rest of the Internet. It acce ...

before selling it to Lance Cottrell's Anonymizer Inc.

Products: Stronghold and Safe Passage

After seeing a demand for an

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

-based SSL-capable web server, Sameer Parekh developed the first version of Stronghold by plugging together

with SSLeay, Apache-SSL, and a commercially licensed RSAref. The product was wildly successful but the company was unwilling to compromise security to get an export license for its products. Thus, C2Net purchased UKWeb, an Apache consultancy in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, which independently re-engineered the Stronghold product (without RSAref) for the international market. This made C2Net the first American company to be capable of providing strong encryption solutions to a worldwide market. Eventually C2Net hired the SSLeay developers Eric Young and Tim Hudson in Brisbane, Australia to develop more encryption products. C2Net's relationship with RSA Data Security, Inc. was rocky because C2Net was using unlicensed versions of

RC4 In cryptography, RC4 (Rivest Cipher 4, also known as ARC4 or ARCFOUR, meaning Alleged RC4, see below) is a stream cipher. While it is remarkable for its simplicity and speed in software, multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in RC4, ren ...

RC2 In cryptography, RC2 (also known as ARC2) is a symmetric-key block cipher designed by Ron Rivest in 1987. "RC" stands for "Ron's Code" or "Rivest Cipher"; other ciphers designed by Rivest include RC4, RC5, and RC6. The development of RC2 wa ...

, and other RSA algorithms (rather than a version licensed from them directly), which made it possible to develop a full strength version of Stronghold outside of the United States. Eventually, C2Net and RSA Data Security, Inc. resolved their differences, and C2Net purchased a patent license for RSA and a license to use RC4 and RC2 within the United States. During merger negotiations between RSA and C2Net, RSA hired C2Net's Australian team and set up their own overseas development effort in Australia in order to produce the BSAFE-SSL product for worldwide sales. Other companies began to emulate this development strategy and the United States government subsequently relaxed restrictions on export of cryptographic technology. C2Net also offered SafePassage client-side products, including a web proxy and also a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Hosting the first ApacheCon

In October, 1998, C2Net and the Apache Project hosted the first

ApacheCon ApacheCon is the official open source software convention of the Apache Software Foundation, focused on the software projects hosted at the ASF, as well as on the development and governance philosophies of the ASF. In the early years the event was ...

conference.

New CEO and Sale to Red Hat

After losing the Australian office, C2Net focused primarily on selling and supporting Stronghold and hired a new CEO, Bill Rowzee. He brought the company back to profitability, and as the RSA patent was due to expire in 2000, they shifted the company's strategy to focus primarily on support. Finally, they sold the company to

in 2000 for around $42.7 Million.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Cryptography companies Software companies of Australia