IBM and Equifax to Bring New Levels of Trust to E-business

IBM Launches Digital Certificate Solution; Equifax Announces Certificate Authority Service

NEW YORK (June 08, 1998) – Equifax and IBM today announced services and software that bring new levels of trust to e-business by helping customers identify the people and organizations with whom they do business online. These offerings are designed to give customers the confidence that electronic commerce is as safe and secure as commerce is today in the physical world.
Leading today’s announcements are:
IBM Vault Registry*, a digital certificate software solution that provides customers with a trusted way to register and certify users for access to online information, services and business applications
New digital certificate services from Equifax, a trusted, global provider of consumer and business information, specifically designed for customers who prefer an outsourced solution for their digital certificate needs
A digital certificate can be used to establish people’s identities online and define their relationships or privileges within a certain business, group or community, much like a driver’s license or passport can be used for identification in face-to-face transactions. Digital certificates also allow users to encrypt and send information over open or private networks with the confidence that unauthorized persons are not permitted to open the data and that any compromise to the data en route can be detected.
“In the physical world of business, it is easy to identify people because we can see them. We are certain of who they are because we’ve checked their credentials, taken their picture and issued a badge or a key that gives them a defined set of privileges,” said Irving Wladawsky-Berger, general manager, IBM Internet division. “How do you trust when you cannot see? IBM Vault Registry, through digital certificates, translates our physical symbols of trust to the world of e-business.”
“Certificate issuance and distribution is a business about trust and identity, and Equifax is an established global leader in providing knowledged-based information and secure processing to businesses worldwide,” said Thomas F. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of Equifax. “Customers needing certificate services to conduct a broad range of e-business activities will benefit from the combined strengths of IBM’s world-class technology and Equifax’s history as a trusted service provider.”
IBM Global Services will provide consulting and implementation services for IBM Vault Registry along with business partners Deloitte & Touche and SRA International.IBM Vault Registry
For customers to bring their business applications — such as banking, enterprise resource planning and e-commerce — online, they need confidence that the parties they are dealing with are, in fact, who they claim to be and are authorized to participate in a given transaction. E-businesses also need to trust that their information is secure and private — not readily vulnerable to tampering, view or access by prying eyes. In addition, they must be comfortable that people in a transaction will not deny having been part of that transaction. IBM Vault Registry, through digital certification, addresses these issues and provides the identification technology customers need to conduct e-business with confidence.
By building key components into one solution, IBM Vault Registry simplifies for customers the cost and complexity of building their own digital certificate solutions with offerings from multiple vendors.With IBM Vault Registry, which uses encryption and digital signatures to help safeguard stored data and applications, customers can have confidence that only people possessing an appropriate digital certificate can access specific applications or personal data over the Internet. The approach can be compared to a safe deposit box at a bank that protects your valuable assets, even from bank employees.

IBM Vault Registry, part of IBM’s SecureWay family of offerings, is designed to grow with customer needs. Scheduled for general availability in the third quarter of this year, IBM Vault Registry is the first member of the IBM Vault Solutions family of trusted e-business solutions; other solutions are expected to be announced in the near future.

Source: IBM

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