The Most Frequently Asked Questions About CloneSafe™ SAC™ (Secure Authentication Center)

1. How secure is the SAC™?
2. Is there a benefit to a stand-alone authentication center (AC)?
3. Does the SAC™ support multiple HLRs or MSC/HLR platforms?
4. Does the SAC™ support multiple SAMS™?
5. What is the transport protocol used between the SAC™ and my HLR platform?
6. Is Synacom providing a better value than other stand-alone authentication centers being marketed today?

1. How secure is the SAC?

The SAC™, when used in conjunction with the SAMS™ product, provides for a secure approach to the
implementation of authentication. In this approach, the A-Keys are stored in the SAMS™ alone and are kept out of the network. Only the shared secret data (SSD) values are sent to the SAC™ to perform real-time authentication of subscribers. This minimizes access to the A-Keys and allows the service providers to secure the SAMS™ platform to any degree they wish.

2. Is there a benefit to a stand-alone authentication center (AC)?

Yes. Examples of the benefits include the capability to centralize the processor intensive calculations, consolidate software changes to a single platform, and expedite the evolution to intelligent network architectures for wireless telecommunications.

3. Does the SAC support multiple HLRs or MSC/HLR platforms?

Yes. The stand-alone SAC™ configuration is specifically designed to support may HLRs so that the stand-alone configuration benefits can be realized.

4. Does the SAC™ support multiple SAMS™?

Yes. The SAC™ can interface with multiple SAMS™ for a distributed architecture. The primary benefit of this architecture is to allow individual markets to control and manage their own A-Keys, while supporting the benefits of a centralized authentication center.

5. What is the transport protocol used between the SAC™ and my HLR platform?

The SAC™ communicates with one or more HLRs using the IS-41 standard "H" interface based on Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) transport.

6. Is Synacom providing a better value than other stand-alone authentication centers being marketed today?

Synacom thinks so. The CloneSafe SAC™ product is available in may cost-effective configurations, from very small standard-availability platforms supporting less than 50,000 subscribers to very large high-availability configurations supporting over 1 million subscribers. This scalability along with the ability to support a variety of network architectures and an open interface to the SAMS™ defines a superior product, developed by a company with a highly regarded reputation in all areas of wireless network technology.