E-security company Baltimore Technologies' digital certificate management system has become the first in Australia to meet the Australian Office for Government Online's (OGO) Gatekeeper standard.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system, UniCERT v3.1.2 achieved ITEC (Information Technology Security Evaluation Criteria) E3 certification.
Meanwhile, a Baltimore Technologies and Telstra agreement has laid the groundwork for the telco's entry into the commercial digital certificate authority business. Baltimore will provide consulting services and host and operate the telco's infrastructure.
The E3 certification is a key component of the Gatekeeper accreditation process and is recognised globally by industry and government bodies as the highest standard of e-security typically sought for commercial products.
Senator Ian Campbell, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, said Baltimore had met a major component of the full accreditation process under the federal government's Gatekeeper project.
"Gatekeeper is the commonwealth's world-leading strategy for the use of digital certificates, which allow businesses to transact with government and provide information electronically with confidence," Campbell said.
John Palfreyman, managing director for Baltimore Technologies Asia Pacific, said he expected that full accreditation to Gatekeeper was "imminent".
"Increasingly, people in private enterprise are viewing secure certification as more and more important," Palfreyman said.
"PKI and e-commerce are circular in their relationship. E-business will thrive if it is secure. But only when the four cornerstones of security -- user authentication, data integrity, confidentiality and message non-repudiation -- are adhered to will e-business move onto significant transactions. One drives the other, drives the other."
ITSEC was developed in the UK and Europe and was adopted in Australia and New Zealand as the evaluation standard in 1994. In 1999, a memorandum of understanding for the mutual recognition of ITSEC evaluations was signed between Australia, New Zealand and the UK.