HEALTHConX is a connection method offered by SMS that provides secure Internet access to the INVISION and SIGNATURE systems running in SMS' data center in Malvern.

User access to systems is controlled with a device called a security token. The token is required to access the systems via the Internet. This is a very secure way of making sure that only authorized personnel access the system.

The token is used to help authenticate or validate (to a computer) a person's declared identity. The token is a physical device about the size of a remote entry device for a car. Built into the face of the token in a sealed casing is a small LCD screen which displays -- automatically, continuously, and apparently unpredictably -- a "token-code" which changes every 60 seconds.

For a sophisticated hacker or a determined insider it doesn't take much to compromise a user's password and gain access to resources that are off-limits. And when an unauthorized individual enters a supposedly secure system disguised as an authorized user, all privilege definition and audit trail functions become virtually meaningless . . . in essence, the damage is done.

There is a risk of information being intercepted and copied in transit over the Internet. This service encrypts all the data being sent to and received from SMS' data center.

None. Included in this service are central communications servers that provide 3270 or host emulation utilizing industry standard browsers.

• The system requirements are whatever are required to run Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer (typically, a PC running Microsoft Windows 95)
• Browser software - Netscape Navigator (4.03 or later) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (4.0 or later)
• Browser version or extension to provide domestic (128-bit) encryption
• Working Internet dial-up connection
• A registered SecurID security token
• A username and pin number