Utimaco Safeware and Datakey Partner to Integrate High-Profile Smart Card Solutions and PKI
OBERURSEL, Germany and MINNEAPOLIS, U.S., June 25, 2002 – Utimaco Safeware AG, one of the leading European developers of professional IT security solutions, and Datakey Inc. (Nasdaq: DKEY), the leading U.S.-based developer of smart card technology for securing e-business, today announced a partnership to integrate high-profile smart card solutions and PKI. Utimaco and Datakey have a strong history with smart card technology and are recognized security specialists in the EU and North American markets, respectively. Both companies intend to leverage this partnership to strengthen their foothold in each other’s home markets.
Datakey smart cards and client software have been integrated with Utimaco’s SafeGuard PKI and all of the SafeGuard digital signature solutions for document management, office applications, secure messaging, ERP and online transactions. SafeGuard® PKI is the Reference Implementation in the EEMA’s PKI Challenge project, the European PKI interoperability project, sponsored by the European Commission.
Datakey’s sole focus is on providing high-security, turnkey smart card solutions for user authentication and identification. Datakey engineers its products to strictly comply with industry standards like MS-CAPI and PKCS #11 and to meet important industry certifications like FIPS 140-1 Level 2. Utimaco sees co-operation with Datakey as a crucial step forward in fine-tuning its security solutions for the North American market.
With Utimaco’s broad product range, Datakey cards can now be used for signing PDF documents, a popular document format, and for approving transactions in SAP R/3 ERP applications. According to Ronny Depoortere, Vice President for Utimaco Digital Transaction Security, customers demand “a high degree of integration of smart cards throughout an organization’s application stack. Deploying smart cards in large organizations is a major undertaking and naturally our customers not only want the best card available but they also want to maximize their benefits by using the cards in as many applications as possible. Sometimes it opens new opportunities for them like a signature-based approval procedure in their ERP system or being able to publish signed, and thus trustworthy, PDF documents to their customers. Typical examples are electronic invoicing and the distribution of audit reports to customers. Utimaco’s Safeguard products and Datakey’s excellent smart card technology are a natural fit for these types of applications.”
Colleen Kulhanek, vice president of corporate marketing, Datakey, said, “Datakey strongly believes in the value of integrating our smart card technology with other industry-leading authentication and security solutions such as Utimaco’s SafeGuard PKI and SafeGuard digital signature products. Datakey’s commitment to seamless interoperability means that enterprises can trust Datakey smart cards and Utimaco technology to work together, right out of the box.”
About Utimaco Safeware
Utimaco Safeware AG is a leading European manufacturer of professional IT security solutions. The security technology and solutions developed by Utimaco Safeware protect the electronic data of companies and government bodies against unauthorized access and guarantees that business processes and administrative procedures in the electronic world are binding and confidential.
Utimaco Safeware’s “Digital Transaction Security” Competence Centre (DTS) builds on the e-business and crypto middleware expertise that has been gained since 1992. Utimaco Safeware’s PKI has evolved from supporting Utimaco Safeware’s PKI-enabled Applications (“PKA”) into a full blown, open PKI product in its own right. Utimaco Safeware serves customers in government, banking and industry worldwide.
About Datakey Inc.
Datakey Inc. (www.datakey.com) is a pioneer in developing smart card-based solutions for information security applications. Datakey smart card technology secures business-to-business e-commerce by:
· Safeguarding a user’s digital identity.
· Authenticating and controlling user access to enterprise networks, applications and resources.
· Protecting the integrity and privacy of data shared over corporate networks and the Internet.
Datakey solutions focus on the ease of deployment, use and management of smart cards in an enterprise for a wide range of logical and physical security applications – including password management, host authentication, Windows log-on, VPN access, web authorization, desktop security, corporate badge and building access, biometric integration, public key encryption, digital certificates and digital signatures.