Entrust Digital Signatures Help Secure More Than 18 Million U.S. ...( Entrust PKI leveraged as security f...)

Entrust PKI leveraged as security foundation for machine readable travel

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DALLAS, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When the U.S. Department of State decided to move to digital passports -- also known as ePassports -- it also recognized there was an opportunity to add another layer of security to these credentials, and it turned to Entrust, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU) to provide the public key infrastructure (PKI)-enabled digital signatures.

A function known as non-repudiation, the digital signature verifies that the digital credential has, in fact, been issued by the U.S. Department of State and that it has not been tampered with since its issuance. To date, the U.S. Department of State has surpassed the 18 million milestone mark for deploying the new ePassports.

"The digital signatures on the new passports illustrate how PKI technology is being used in a number of new applications, reinforcing PKI as the gold standard for digital security," said Entrust Chairman President and CEO Bill Conner. "It's really a 'PKI 2.0' trend we're seeing in the market right now. More organizations are realizing the value and unprecedented scalability PKI technology affords them when deploying and managing security for digital identities and information -- especially on a mass scale like this."

Since August 2006 only ePassports have been issued in the U.S. As security guidelines to travel between the United States, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean now require a valid passport, the issuance of ePassports has risen dramatically. This increase is expected to continue, with an eventual production of 15 to 18 million ePassports annually.

"Along with the U.S., we have been able to help secure ePassports and national ID cards in Spain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Slovenia and others," Conner added. "This security feature can also help prevent these credentials from being counterfeited, which adds a greater
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