Entrust Launches Next-Generation Desktop Application Security Platform

Entrust Entelligence? Security Provider delivers thin-client, easy-to-use security capabilities to everyday applications like e-mail, remote access and electronic forms

14 Apr 2003

DALLAS - Entrust, Inc. [NASDAQ: ENTU], a leader in securing digital identities and information, today announced the launch of Entrust Entelligence? Security Provider, a new thin-client security platform that enables governments and enterprises to rapidly download and deploy security for their applications.

Entrust Entelligence Security Provider (or Security Provider), combines thin-client deployment with broad application support without sacrificing ease of use and administration. Through a small footprint that can be quickly and easily deployed to desktops, the solution provides organizations with the security they need to unlock the promise of their applications, such as e-mail, remote access and electronic forms.

"Over the last year, Entrust has dramatically transformed its products to deliver solutions that are even easier for customers to deploy and use," said Bill Conner, chairman and chief executive officer at Entrust.  "Security Provider is one example of how our broad portfolio of security solutions delivers advanced, user-friendly security capabilities that enable customers to capitalize on the value of the technologies they use to interact with customers, partners, and employees."

Security Provider is kept small by leveraging the server-side capabilities of the Entrust Authority? product portfolio, the backbone of Entrust's products and solutions suite. Despite its size, Security Provider provides complete lifecycle management of a user's digital identity - including self-service enrollment and transparent key backup and renewal - resulting in a security solution that can significantly reduce IT administration and helpdesk costs.

 "Our extensive banking operations involve an enormous amount of data exchange and access to corporate applications, all of which require strict security. Entrust Entelligence Security Provider will enable Credit Suisse to capitalize on a comprehensive security solution that can be rolled out across the enterprise rapidly, with minimal impact on our resources, in particular administrators and end-users," said Roland Sch?tzig, Head of PKI engineering at the Technology and Operations division in Credit Suisse.

The open and interoperable architecture of Entrust Entelligence Security Provider enables "out-of-the-box" authentication, encryption and digital signature capabilities to any security-aware application on the Microsoft Windows platform, including email applications like Microsoft Outlook; WLAN and other remote access VPN solutions like the Cisco VPN Client version 3.6; electronic forms products like Adobe Acrobat; and Microsoft's Encrypting File System for securing desktop files and folders. This is accomplished without additional software or application integration.

"We are happy to see Entrust take full advantage of the capabilities of the Windows platform," said Bruce Burns, director in the Platform Strategy and Partner Group at Microsoft. "We believe that this will provide better interoperability between Windows applications and Entrust's Public Key Infrastructure, and benefit our mutual customers."

"Adobe is committed to helping governments and enterprises maximize their cost-savings and realize efficiency gains through electronic workflow solutions that bridge the paper-world with digital information," said Harry Vitelli, vice president of business development at Adobe. "Entrust Entelligence Security Provider leverages the built-in security features of Adobe's solutions suite, such as those found within the recently-launched Adobe Acrobat 6.0, to further deliver trust to electronic documents and information."
 
With Security Provider, a user's Entrust Digital ID can be extended across multiple applications without invasive user commands or complicated backup and recovery mechanisms that can otherwise make deploying security difficult for users and administrators.  The platform also adheres to centralized security policies, such as enforced password lengths and smartcard use, allowing secure use of the Digital ID without requiring manual compliance and audit procedures.

 "Organizations with plans for wide scale deployment of certificate-based security services must investigate solutions with efficient certificate management capabilities such as issuance, backup and recovery, or risk being overwhelmed with support complexity and cost," said David Thompson, senior research analyst with META Group.
  
"By embracing Entrust Entelligence Security Provider, customers can quickly deploy and benefit from easy-to-use security capabilities that can extend the return from a broad range of applications," added Ian Curry, vice-president and chief marketing officer at Entrust.

Product Availability and Web Seminars

Entrust Entelligence Security Provider is expected to be commercially available in late April, direct from Entrust or authorized channels. As part of the launch, Entrust will be conducting a series of Web Seminars showcasing Security Provider's thin-client security capabilities and how it also extends across Entrust's comprehensive portfolio of security solutions. Exact dates and times are available at http://www.entrust.com/events/security_provider_overview.htm

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the commercial introduction by Entrust of a new product, and the expected benefits of such new product, and such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are delays in product development, coordination of development by Entrust and certain platform vendors, coordination of development by Entrust and certain other third-party software vendors, undetected software errors or bugs, competitive pressures, market acceptance of the technologies of Entrust, delays in training Entrust's and its channels' sales forces in respect to the new product, technical difficulties, changes in customer requirements, governmental regulations, general economic conditions and the risk factors detailed from time to time in Entrust's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation Entrust's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002.  Entrust cautions investors that it might not update any or all of the foregoing forward-looking statements.