Baltimore Technologies, Entrust, IBM, Microsoft and RSA Security Announce Formation of PKI Forum
13.12.1999, 16:18
MENLO PARK, Calif. (PROTEXT) - Leaders in Public KeyInfrastructure Provide Industry Focal Point for PKIInteroperability, Increased Customer Confidence for PKI-BasedSolutions Leading public key infrastructure (PKI) vendors BaltimoreTechnologies, Entrust Technologies Inc., IBM Corp., MicrosoftCorp. and RSA Security Inc. today announced the formation of thePKI Forum, an industry-led collaboration created to acceleratethe adoption of PKI technology and PKI- based solutions as thetrusted, secure foundation for e-business applications. The PKI Forum will provide an opportunity for vendors todemonstrate support for standards-based, interoperable PKI bydeveloping PKI interoperability profiles based on business-driven requirements in certificate interoperability, directory-PKI interoperability, application interoperability, certificatevalidation and other areas. The forum will sponsor productinteroperability demonstrations and work closely with standardsorganizations and external test bodies. The forum also will bringcustomers and vendors together to increase customer knowledgeabout the value of PKI and demonstrate how PKI solves keysecurity issues for e-business. "Infrastructure technologies like PKI succeed only when theycan support a large number of users and applications," saidJamie Lewis, CEO of The Burton Group. "By addressinginteroperability issues and raising business awareness of PKI,the PKI Forum can increase the number of applications that relyon PKI and thus accelerate the deployment of PKI-basedsolutions." The five founding PKI Forum member companies have expressedtheir commitment to working collaboratively with other vendors,as well as users, to ensure greater interoperability and utilityfor PKI-based solutions: Baltimore Technologies: "The PKI Forum will enable customersto see demonstrable interoperability among the leading PKIvendors," said Paddy Holahan, executive vice president ofmarketing. "Baltimore Technologies, as a founding member, willwork to ensure the practical implementation of open standards todeliver manageable, robust PKI systems." Entrust: "The PKI Forum is all about increasing customer'sconfidence in our collective capabilities," said BrianO'Higgins, executive vice president and CTO, EntrustTechnologies. "Enhancing interoperability and ease-of-use of PKITechnology will drive more value to our customers. Entrust iscommitted to the objectives of the PKI Forum." IBM: "IBM is committed to open standards, and ourparticipation in the PKI Forum will benefit our customers whorely on PKI-based applications to provide a secure foundation fore-business," said Mark Greene, vice president, IBM SecureWay."Working with the other vendors committed to this important forumand with the broader community of technology companies andcustomers who will participate in the forum's working groups,IBM continues to champion standards-based, interoperable PKI andthe value it brings to global e-business." Microsoft: "As e-business evolves, PKI interoperability iscrucial to meeting customer demand for Internet security.Microsoft has made this significant commitment to customers byproviding PKI in Windows 2000(R) and is proud to play a foundingrole in the innovation and vision that the PKI Forum will provideto the industry and to customers," said Shanen Boettcher,product manager, Windows 2000 Security, Microsoft. "Microsoft iscommitted to keeping customers' information secure, and ourmembership in the PKI Forum is an important part of meeting thiscommitment." RSA Security: "Broad PKI interoperability is essential toadvancing the deployment of trusted, secure e-businessapplications, and RSA is happy to have this opportunity to helpmake it a reality," said Scott Schnell, vice president of RSASecurity. "We look forward to working closely with the other PKIForum members in achieving this goal and lending our expertise tohelp promote the adoption of PKI technology." Membership in the PKI Forum is open to product and serviceproviders, independent software vendors, consultants,integrators and end-user organizations that have a demonstratedinterest in promoting PKI technology and PKI-based solutions. Inaddition to the five founding members, the PKI Forum is supportedby a variety of leading companies that are committed tointeroperable PKI-based solutions and have expressed interest inthe PKI Forum. These companies include British Telecommunicationsplc, Hewlett-Packard Co., ID Certify, Novell Inc., The OpenGroup, Sun/Netscape Alliance, SPYRUS, Thawte Certification,Trustpoint, ValiCert Inc. and Xcert International Inc. Public key technology and digital certificates have emerged asthe preferred enablers of strong security for a wide range of e-business applications, including secure e-mail, secure Webaccess, virtual private networks and digital signatures. The mostcommon functions of a PKI are issuing certificates, revokingcertificates, creating and publishing Certificate RevocationLists (CRLs), storing and retrieving certificates and CRLs, andpolicy enforcement. Enhanced or emerging PKI functions includetime-stamping and policy-based certificate validation. Tosuccessfully deploy a PKI, organizations must develop a soundstrategy, plan for interoperability, determine how e-businessapplications will interface with the PKI, and plan for technicalstaffing requirements. The PKI Forum is being established within the legal frameworkof the managed consortia program of The Open Group, a vendor andtechnology-neutral consortium of IT buyers and suppliers. Throughdefining and extending industry standards, creating customertesting and conformance programs, and educating on best industrypractices, The Open Group is focused on helping customers andvendors solve enterprise integration problems. Members of the PKI Forum plan to establish two standingworking groups: * The Business Working Group will help ensure that the forumunderstands the PKI needs of four constituencies: softwaredevelopers, service providers, vendors and customers. It willlink those needs to the Technical Working Group and carry outmarketing activities. * The Technical Working Group will develop PKIinteroperability profiles to address the use of PKI in businessapplications, link with appropriate standards and other PKIorganizations, and charter demonstration projects to establishinteroperability among vendor products. The PKI Forum intends to conduct informational meetings and areception for interested companies in conjunction with the RSAConference 2000, to be held the week of Jan. 17-21, 2000, in SanJose, Calif. Organizations interested in membership in the PKIForum should contact Graham Bird of The Open Group by phone at650- 323-7992, by fax at 650-323-8204, or by e-mail atg.bird@opengroup.org . Further information on The Open Group can be obtained atwww.opengroup.org . For general information about the PKI Forum,see www.pkiforum.org . About Baltimore Technologies Baltimore Technologies (Nasdaq: BALT) develops and marketssecurity products and services to enable companies to developtrusted, secure systems for e-business, e- commerce and theInternet. Its products include a wide range of PKI systems,cryptographic toolkits, security applications and hardwarecryptographic devices. Baltimore Technologies markets and sellsits solutions worldwide directly and through the TrustedWorldchannel program. The company employs over 450 people worldwideand operates from over 20 cities, with headquarters in Dublin,Ireland; London; Boston; and Sydney, Australia. BaltimoreTechnologies plc is a public company with dual listings onNasdaq (BALT) and the London Stock Exchange (BLM). For furtherinformation and press releases on Baltimore Technologies, pleasevisit http://www.baltimore.com/. About Entrust Technologies Entrust Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU) is a global leader inproviding products and services that allow e-businesses tomanage trusted, secure electronic transactions and communicationsover today's advanced networks, including the Internet, extranetsand intranets. Since 1994, Entrust Technologies has beenproviding award-winning solutions to global enterprises,government entities, small to midsize businesses and individuals.Over 4 million Entrust Technologies users have been licensed withdigital certificates to date. Entrust Technologies Inc. isheadquartered in Plano, Texas, with offices in Canada, the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and Japan. Foradditional company information, please visithttp://www.entrust.com/. About IBM IBM (NYSE: IBM) is the world's largest information technologycompany, with 80 years of leadership in helping businessesinnovate. IBM Software offers the widest range of applications,middleware and operating systems for all types of computingplatforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the newera of e-business. The fastest way to get more information aboutIBM software is through the IBM Software home page athttp://www.ibm.com/software/. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwideleader in software for personal and business computing. Thecompany offers a wide range of products and services designed toempower people through great software - any time, any place andon any device. About RSA Security RSA Security Inc. (Nasdaq: RSAS), The Most Trusted Name in e-Security(TM), helps organizations build secure, trustedfoundations for e-businesses through its RSA SecurID(R) two-factor authentication, RSA BSAFE(R) encryption and RSA Keon(TM)public key management systems. As the global integration ofSecurity Dynamics and RSA Data Security, RSA Security has theproven leadership, innovative technology and systems experienceto address the changing security needs of e-business and bringtrust to the new, online economy. RSA Security can be reached athttp://www.rsasecurity.com/. Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Technologies Inc.in the United States and other countries. In Canada, Entrust is aregistered trademark of Entrust Technologies Ltd. All Entrustproduct names are trademarks of Entrust Technologies. BSAFE and SecurID are registered trademarks, and Keon, RSA andThe Most Trusted Name in e-Security are trademarks of RSASecurity Inc. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks ortrademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or othercountries/regions. All other company and product names aretrademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.ots Original Text Service: PKI Forum Internet:http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Tracy Ross of BaltimoreTechnologies, 650-372-5288, or tross@baltimore.com; or CarrieBendzsa of Entrust Technologies, 613-247-3455, orcarrie.bendzsa@entrust.com; or Nancy Riley of IBM, 919-486-2834,or nriley@us.ibm.com; or Luisa Vacca of Waggener Edstrom, 425-637-9097, or luisav@wagged.com, for Microsoft; or Rick Mack ofRSA Security Inc., 781-301-5344, or rhmack@rsasecurity.com; orPatrick Corman of Corman Communications, 650-326-9648, orpatrick@cormancom.com, for PKI Forum Web site:http://www.baltimore.com
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