"Network security is not the oxymoron our competitor would like you to believe," Jonathan Schwartz, head of Sun's Software Group, told the audience to his keynote address as the RSA Conference 2004 last week. "But it's time the industry admitted that the defensive approach to PC security with bigger moats, taller walls, and memos from the CEO have clearly failed," he added.

"It's time we went on the offensive by proactively authenticating and differentiating service to the good guys, instead of always hunting the bad," Schwartz continued.

"This approach is more befitting a limitless Internet - spanning all network devices and services, not just PCs - and the products and technologies already in deployment by some of the highest-security yet most open and interoperable network operators in existence."

"Infinite possibility," Schwartz said, "requires infinite access based on simplicity, integration, and automation."

Schwartz was speaking as Sun introduced its new its new "infinite access security" model, which the company claims will help businesses "securely open up their enterprise to the network and extract more value from the Internet." Sun plans to invisibly integrate multi-factor authentication, identity management, and containment support into all of its software products and platforms, Schwartz explained, adding that the Java Desktop System "will be Sun's first product to integrate complete out-of-the-box support for JavaCard multi-factor authentication technology."

The technology isn't wholly ready yet, Schwartz added, but it's on the doorstep.  "By June, you will have robust JavaCard support in the Java Desktop, which is to me the linchpin of all this,"