Entrust Technologies is pushing the idea of using public key infrastructure (PKI) as the best solution for security purposes, and is shipping a host of new products to secure e-mail, Internet transactions, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
New products from the company include two solutions for integrating Entrust's PKI technology into SAP and PeopleSoft ERP systems: Entrust/CommerceCA 4.1, for the creation of Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) certificates; and Entrust/Express 4.0, to secure users' e-mail using Secure MIME (SMIME).
The company's strategy of creating partnerships and delivering products has impressed some industry observers.
"Looking at the PKI vendors that are out there, Entrust has come a long way over the past year and a half," said Tom Austin, an industry consultant at Internet Business group, in Bedford, New Hampshire. "They are making all the right moves with partners, and channels."
The numerous releases of PKI systems are the result of one year of design work, said Michel Ranger, Entrust's director of business development.
"We've gone through pretty steep growth, and now is when the output is coming from all that growth," Ranger said. "When people talk about making their business electronic, they actually need the same security that they have in real life. We have products that provide security services to consumer-type applications."
Entrust is working with both SAP and PeopleSoft to streamline the integration of its PKI system to both ERP platforms. The combination is intended to provide SAP and PeopleSoft users with authentication, encryption, digital signatures, single log-on across all applications, and smart card integration using digital certificates.
"The thing with ERP is that customers have spent millions of dollars getting all of this data, and what security does is let them unlock it and get it to the right person," Ranger said.
Entrust/CommerceCA 4.1 consists of an Entrust/Commerce Connector, which provides SET registration and messaging, and the Entrust/PKI for issuing SET certificates. Enhancements also make it possible to extend a SET Certification Authority to support smart cards for Internet debit card certificates.
Entrust has also moved beyond the Microsoft platform with the Entrust/Express 4.0 e-mail security system, which now provides support for Qualcomm Eudora Pro. Express 4.0 is an SMIME-compatible system.
"What were really getting at is we're not just for Microsoft. We've got SMIME capabilities across the board," said Nora Cox, product manager for Entrust/Express.
Both Entrust Security for SAP and Entrust Security for PeopleSoft are available now, with no additional charge for the SAP and PeopleSoft client/server interfaces. The interfaces ship with Entrust's PKI technology, priced at US$159 per user license.
Entrust/CommerceCA 4.1 is available now for Windows NT priced at $115,000, with certificates available at a base $2 per certificate. Entrust/Express 4.0 is available now and pricing starts at $39 per user for Windows 95, Windows NT, and Apple Macintosh.
Entrust Technologies Inc., in Richardson, Texas, is at www.entrust.com.