Entrust Digital Signatures Help Secure More Than 18 Million U.S. ...(level ofassurance to both the border pat...)

ePassport travel documents contain an electronic chip that stores sensitive personal information that can be verified against the data on the passport as well as against the individual at the border control point. Although U.S. ePassports currently store a digital facial image, the documents have the capability to securely include digitized photographs, fingerprints or other biometrics. To protect these assets, PKI is an integral technology for the security and verification infrastructure of ePassports. The Entrust Authority PKI portfolio is one of the leading solutions to support this capability.

The Department of State has employed a multilayered approach to protect the privacy of the information contained on the ePassport. In addition to a metallic cover that prevents skimming or eavesdropping of the information while the document is closed, Basic Access Control (BAC) technology is used to "unlock" the data on the chip. A PKI digital signature enables alteration or modification of the data on the chip to be detected and enables authorities to validate and authenticate the data.

Modular and fully integrated, the Entrust Authority PKI portfolio is built on the foundation of Entrust Authority Security Manager, the certification authority (CA) system responsible for issuing and managing digital identities. Optional components help organizations manage the entire lifecycle of PKI certificates. Approximately 1,000 government and commercial organizations have purchased Entrust PKI solutions since Entrust brought its first PKI to market in the 1990s.

On the horizon, the next generation of ePassport technology is already being considered. Enhanced security, known as Extended Access Control (EAC), provides an additional layer of security to control access to sensitive information, such as biometric fingerprints and iris scans on these next-generation e
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