Cylink PKI Deployed as Certificate Authority for U.S. Postal Service’s NetPost.Certified
NetAuthority Provides Digital Certificates to Secure e-Documents for Government Agencies
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – January 16, 2001 – E-business security pioneer Cylink Corporation (NASDAQ: CYLK) today announced the deployment of its NetAuthority(tm) public key infrastructure (PKI) solution as the certificate authority for the U.S. Postal Service’s NetPost.Certified, a new Internet-based service designed to secure and authenticate electronic correspondence between government agencies.
NetPost.Certified enables government agencies to obtain digital certificates – used to authenticate parties to e-business communications – provided online by Cylink’s NetAuthority after users present proof of identity to the Postal Service. Users can then store the digital certificate and their private key on a NetPost.Certified smartcard, which is then used to securely and privately send electronic files to government computers. Cylink’s NetAuthority features a certificate authority, registration server, registration authority client and a toolkit that provides all the components to make applications and devices PKI-compatible.
“From the naming of Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General in 1775 to our use today of the Internet for high-speed communications, the United States Postal Service has promoted the free flow of information and ideas within government and between the government and its citizens,” said Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan. “NetPost.Certified is a vital part of our efforts to support e-government initiatives with state-of-the art technology that speeds the flow of electronic documents while ensuring they remain secure.”
“Cylink is pleased to provide the Postal Service with a key component to NetPost.Certified’s authentication capabilities,” said William P. Crowell, President and CEO of Cylink. “By providing the user authentication so crucial to the secure exchange of information over the Internet, NetAuthority is playing an important role in supporting the Postal Service’s continuing commitment to streamlining government communications.”
The Social Security Administration and the Health Care Financing Administration both have run trial applications on NetPost.Certified. The SSA is the first agency to sign up for the service and plans to use NetPost.Certified for several applications, including obtaining vital statistics records from state governments.
NetPost.Certified will support such e-government enterprises as the Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Presidential Memorandum on e-Government initiatives.
The NetAuthority deployment stems from Cylink’s five-year contract with the Postal Service, announced last year, to provide PKI software and systems for its e-business services. In addition to incorporating NetAuthority, NetPost.Certified uses technology from GemPlus, Npoint, PubliCARD, RSA, TecSec, ValiCert and WareOnEarth Communications. The NetPost.Certified implementation fostered a relationship between Cylink and WareOnEarth that recently resulted in a strategic partnership whereby the companies will provide secure peer-to-peer technology to protect government and business Internet communications.
About Cylink Corporation
Cylink Corporation develops, markets and supports a comprehensive family of e-business security solutions. Founded in 1983, the company was the first to market security solutions that protect communications with public key cryptography. Cylink and its wholly owned subsidiaries serve Fortune 500 companies, multinational financial institutions, and government agencies worldwide. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and may be reached at (408) 855-6000 or www.cylink.com. # # #
Cylink is a registered trademark of Cylink Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Note: Some of the matters discussed in this release include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could be materially different. Forward-looking statements include the suggestion that the United State Postal Service will continue to be committed to the exchange of information over the Internet, and the statement that Cylink and WareOnEarth Communications will provide secure peer-to-peer technology to protect Internet communications. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include declining interest by the United States Postal Service and other governmental agencies in communication over the Internet, lack of market interest in the parties’ products or services, an unexpected delay in development and product release, the possible introduction of new technologies and other risk factors listed from time to time in the company’s SEC reports, including but not limited to the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its reports on Forms 10-Q and the Annual Report to shareholders.