U.S. Departments of State and Energy and the State of Illinois Expand Secure Information-Sharing Capabilities
Entrust Government Customers Recognized at Official Event Marking Cross-Certification with the Federal Bridge
18 May 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Entrust, Inc. [NASDAQ: ENTU], a leading provider of information security solutions for governments and global corporations, today congratulated three of its customers on being recognized for achieving cross-certification with the Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA). At a Federal PKI Policy Authority ceremony, the U.S. Departments of State and Energy, and the State of Illinois, received awards for achieving this technological milestone. All of the government organizations recognized are Entrust customers, and are now enabled to securely communicate and share information via the FBCA.
The FBCA is a multi-agency information-sharing infrastructure powered by Entrust's public key infrastructure (PKI) technology that ties together the newly cross-certified organizations and current government participants. Entrust has been integral in the development and deployment of the FBCA itself, providing the technology foundation that powers the infrastructure and assuming the role of trusted advisor to help agencies meet certification requirements. With this announcement, six of the eight cross-certified organizations sharing information via the FBCA are utilizing Entrust technology (Energy, State, State of Illinois, Treasury, NASA and USDA-NFC).
"Enabling secure and efficient communications between government agencies is essential to meet our homeland security and e-government objectives, and the Federal Bridge is a great example of how e-government solutions can be successful," said Kevin Simzer, senior vice-president, Marketing and Products, Entrust, Inc. "Entrust is proud of the role it continues to play with the FBCA and participating organizations, and we congratulate the Departments of State and Energy and the State of Illinois on their newly awarded certification and the recognition they have received in view of their accomplishments."
Cross certification with the Federal Bridge enables each agency's public key infrastructure (PKI) to recognize and trust digital certificates and signatures sent from and between other participating government organizations. It also allows all organizations to make one security agreement with the FBCA rather than making security agreements with each of the organizations they need to interact with.
Government organizations have identified the need to not only enable more secure communications internally, but also among other public sector entities. Using Entrust technology, U.S. agencies such as the Departments of State and Energy have implemented applications that offer leading-edge identification, digital signature, privacy and security management for both enterprise and Web portal applications. As the first state in the nation to achieve cross-certification, the State of Illinois has adopted Entrust technology solutions and procedures that allow the state to provide better citizen services and coordinate essential homeland security functions, while realizing significant cost-savings and improving efficiencies and effectiveness through the use of technology.
"We are extremely proud of the technological accomplishments and innovative programs that have been developed in conjunction with our government colleagues. Now serving six of the eight participants cross-certified on the FBCA, and with other technology deployments in over 65 federal entities, Entrust's footprint in the government arena continues to expand and we look forward to helping our customers meet even more milestones moving forward," continued Simzer.