Credentica Releases Software Product for User-Centric Identity Management
Credentica's U-Prove software product enables organizations to protect identity-related information with unprecedented security throughout its lifecycle, wherever it may travel, while at the same time enabling critical privacy functions. It has been designed to meet data protection requirements in Government Online, Electronic Health Record management, cross-domain enterprise identity and access management, and Trusted Computing.
Montreal, QC (PRWEB) February 13, 2007
Credentica, a Montreal-based provider of innovative security software for identity and access management, today announced the immediate availability of its U-Prove product (http://www. credentica. com/uprove_sdk. html) for user-centric identity management. The U-Prove product enables organizations to protect identity-related information with unprecedented security throughout its lifecycle, wherever it may travel. It is tailor-made for online user authentication that must withstand phishing attacks, for sharing identity information across disparate domains, and for creating the digital equivalent of the cards in one's wallet.
At the same time, the U-Prove product enables critical privacy functions. For example, it enables online users to seamlessly authenticate to any number of sites without giving rise to unwanted profiling or surveillance capabilities, to transfer data between unlinked accounts, and to store digitally signed audit trails that prove the transactions they engaged in. These functions have been specifically designed to meet data protection requirements in Government Online (http://www. credentica. com/egovernment. html) , Electronic Health Record management (http://www. credentica. com/ehealth. html) , cross-domain enterprise identity and access management (http://www. credentica. com/eiam. html) , and Trusted Computing (http://www. credentica. com/trusted_computing. html).
"The success of large-scale information technology initiatives depends critically upon their public acceptance and use. In order for this to occur, the public must have confidence and trust in the data privacy and security claims being made," said Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. "Credentica's innovative U-Prove product promises to do this by giving users the ability to minimize the collection and use of their personal data in online transactions, and to maintain control of their identities. I applaud Credentica for their commitment to privacy and security and hope that their success inspires other technology developers to follow a similar privacy path."
The need for innovative data-level security technologies for identity and access management is rapidly growing. With more and more identity-related information traveling across organizational boundaries, perimeter security technologies such as firewalls are decreasing in relevance while identity theft and privacy invasions are exploding.
"The U-Prove product leads an emerging category of technology that will move the industry forward substantially on issues of identification and privacy," said Mike Neuenschwander, Vice President and Research Director at Burton Group, "Credentica's technology embodies many of the concepts that Burton Group analysts have forwarded, such as direct storage and control over personal information and sharing information without revealing source data (see identityblog. burtongroup. com (http://identityblog. burtongroup. com/)). This release of the U-Prove product empowers developers to find reliable solutions to pressing, but complicated problems of trust across federated environments."
The U-Prove product can be used to enhance the protection and the flow of identity-related information in frameworks such as SAML, Liberty ID-WSF, and Windows CardSpace.
"Deployment of standards-based identity and assertion frameworks on the web is rapidly increasing across government, education, and industry. It's critical that we as technologists, however well-intentioned, understand the social and privacy implications of these technologies before they lead to unintended consequences." said Scott Cantor, security architect at Ohio State University in Columbus and an author of OpenSAML and the Shibboleth federated identity system. "The exciting technology in the U-Prove product has the potential to move these standards forward with powerful new privacy and security capabilities that could drive adoption higher, and make the online experience not only more capable but immeasurably safer."
In addition to providing innovative software-only protection measures, the U-Prove product enables organizations to efficiently leverage the presence of client-side trusted modules, such as Trusted Computing chips and smart cards. An unlimited supply of identity-related assertions can efficiently be bound over open networks to constrained trusted modules without creating any privacy-invasive powers in them; this solves an open problem that has held back the adoption of Trusted Computing.
"The challenge of designing practical security technologies for identity and access management that do not erode privacy has preoccupied cryptographers for several decades," said Dr. Stefan Brands (http://www. credentica. com/team. html) , president of Credentica. "The cryptographic engine technology in our U-Prove product has been taught at many leading technical universities since the mid nineties, has been subjected to intense scrutiny by the world's top cryptographers, and has been live-tested by major industry players."
As part of the product release Credentica's web site credentica. com has undergone a major revision.
Credentica will demonstrate the U-Prove product and its application to Government Online on February 15 and 16 in industry booth #15 at the 8th Annual Privacy and Security Conference and Exposition in Victoria, British Columbia (see http://www. rebootconference. com/privacy2007/agenda. php (http://www. rebootconference. com/privacy2007/agenda. php)). Demonstrations will be given every hour on both days, on the hour. In addition, Dr. Brands will give a keynote presentation in the morning of February 15 and will participate later that same day in two panels on identity and authentication.
About Credentica:
Credentica provides innovative software products to protect identity-related information in Internet, mobile, and smart-card applications. Our products leverage patented cryptographic technology to provide multi-party security, scalability, and privacy. We work in collaboration with independent software vendors, systems integrators, and equipment manufacturers to ensure smooth product integration. We also provide specialized consultancy services. Please visit www. credentica. com for more information.
Credentica and U-Prove are trademarks or registered trademarks of Credentica Inc. All other goods and/or services mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact:
Christian Paquin
+1.514.866.6000
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