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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Standards for Efficient Cryptography Group Announce New Initiatives
Elliptic Curve Cryptography protocol test site and test certificate
authority to promote interoperability and facilitate faster time-to-market
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario -- February 9, 2005 -- Two new initiatives being
spearheaded by the Standards for Efficient Cryptography Group (SECG)
will help developers quickly and effectively test elliptic curve
cryptography (ECC)-based implementations to facilitate faster
time-to-market, according to Certicom, a founding member of SECG.
Announced today, an ECC protocol test site and certificate authority
(CA) will be available to SECG members in the spring of 2005.
The SECG, an industry consortium, was founded in 1998 to develop
commercial standards that facilitate the adoption of efficient
cryptography and interoperability across a wide range of computing
platforms. Where standards already exist, SECG may promote a refined,
peer-reviewed profile of the broader standard to prom ote adoption and
interoperability. The SECG also provides guidance to governments and
organizations that are developing cryptographic standards.
The initiatives announced today include:
* ECC protocol test site: developers will be able to vet their protocol
implementations against reference implementations to test
interoperability. Each test--such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and
S/MIME protocols--has been peer-reviewed by the leading ECC and protocol
authorities.
* ECC-based certificate authority: the group will issue free ECC-based
certificates for testing and prototyping.
SECG's role is to make it easier to use ECC by promoting practical
standards, interoperability and by providing mechanisms to test
implementations and prototypes," said William Lattin, chair of SECG.
"Recent developments, such as advances in the cryptographic world and
U.S. government secu rity initiatives, have elevated the need for ECC and
for resources like ours."
"The work of SECG is a valuable resource for companies committed to
ECC," said Gloria Navarre, senior architect, Unisys Global Security
Practice. "As Unisys develops next-generation ECC applications, such as
our solutions to help banks embrace image exchange in check processing,
and transform payments operations as a whole, we can take advantage of
the expertise, interoperability and testing standards that SECG offers
to provide new levels of security to our clients and their customers."
"SECG enables access to proven and effective algorithms and protocols to
secure a communication channel between computers. It is particularly
important when communicating computers have limiting computational
resources and when the bandwidth of the channel has limiting capacity.
This is the case of important mailing applications where Pitney Bowes
has established a strong leadership position worldwide. In addition SECG
allows to have a common foundation for all communication security needs
regardless of the limiting factors. This in turn enables
interoperability between a broad variety of applications," said Dr. Leon
Pintsov, Pitney Bowes Fellow and vice president, International Standards
and Advanced Technology.
ECC, a computationally efficient form of cryptography, is used in a
growing number of sectors ranging from consumer electronics, embedded
devices and semiconductors to government and financial services. Several
changes have spurred the adoption of ECC. The first is the need for a
stronger public-key cryptosystem that doesn't affect performance.
For example, a high security encryption algorithm like the Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES) demands equivalent security for the
accompanyin g digital signatures and key exchanges.
To achieve this level of security without overwhelming the processors of
most mobile devices, developers would need ECC, which offers equivalent
security to other competing technologies but with much smaller key
sizes. The second is the National Security Agency's recent decision to
name ECC the public-key cryptosystem needed to meet the new, stronger
security requirements under its crypto-modernization program.
The SECG is open to all interested parties who are willing to contribute
to the ECC standards development process. To become a member of the
SECG, simply send an email to the SECG mailing list
(secg-talk-request@lists.certicom.com) with the word "SUBSCRIBE" in the
subject line. To find out more about SECG and to download the latest
standards, visit www.secg.org, or visit us at the RSA conference, in the
Certicom booth #430, February 14-18, M oscone Center, San Francisco.
About SECG
The Standards for Efficient Cryptography Group (SECG) is an industry
consortium for the development of standards based upon Elliptic Curve
Cryptography (ECC). It was chartered to develop commercial standards
that specify the basis for creating interoperable, cost-effective
security solutions across a wide range of computing platforms. The SECG
was founded in 1998 by Certicom and currently includes member companies
such as: Entrust, Fujitsu, Pitney Bowes, Unisys and Visa International.
Visit www.secg.org.
About Certicom
Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC) is the authority for strong, efficient
cryptography required by software vendors and device manufacturers to
embed security in their products. Adopted by the U.S. government's
National Security Agency (NSA), Certicom technologies for Elliptic Curve
Cryptography (ECC) provide the most security per bit of a ny known public-key scheme, making it ideal for resource-constrained environments. Visit
www.certicom.com.
About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes is the world's leading provider of integrated mail and
document management systems, services and solutions. The $5 billion
company helps organizations of all sizes efficiently and effectively
manage their mission-critical mail and document flow in physical,
digital and hybrid formats. Its solutions range from addressing software
and metering systems to print stream management, electronic bill
presentment and presort mail services. With approximately 33,000
employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses
through direct and dealer operations. For more information about Pitney
Bowes please visit http://www.pb.com.
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions
company. Our people combine expertise i n consulting, systems
integration, outsourcing, infrastructure and server technology with
precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more
than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive
advantage. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
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