Exostar's Federated Identity Service Is First PKI Certificate Service Provider to DoD, not under DoD Certificate Root

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Exostar, the leading provider of secure, on-demand, multi-enterprise collaboration solutions to the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, today announced it is the first Certificate Service Provider (CSP) to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Defense (DoD) Policy Management Authority. Exostar is the first PKI CSP that can issue Medium Level of Assurance (MLOA) hardware digital certificates that are not under the DoD certificate root. Exostar-issued Federated Identity Service (FIS) digital certificates can now be used by any company to authenticate to DoD information systems and support the exchange of signed and encrypted email.

In July 2008, the DoD Chief Information Office issued a memorandum updating the DoD instruction 8520.2 that allowed DoD relying parties to 'trust' digital certificates issued by non-DoD entities that were certified by the US Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) or PKI members of other PKI Bridges that are cross-certified to the FBCA at medium level of assurance for hardware. CertiPath received this cross-certification in May 2006. Later that year, Exostar's FIS was certified by CertiPath at medium hardware assurance, qualifying Exostar to be recognized by the DoD after successful technical interoperability testing with the DoD's Joint Interoperability Test Command center.

Exostar is now fully authorized to provide MLOA hardware credentials to customers requiring access to DoD applications. With this recognition, Exostar's FIS certificates can be used by A&D organizations to access not only DoD applications, but any other A&D application that requires CertiPath-certified digital certificates, such as the Transglobal Secure Collaboration Program's (TSCP) secure email. As a result, the A&D community can authenticate to multiple applications, including those residing with the DoD, with a single credential. Exostar delivers these credentials via a service model, enabling organizations to accomplish their mission of communicating securely with the DoD applications at the higher assurance level, while simultaneously enjoying the benefit of a one-stop-shop for account management and support.

"Previously, BAE Systems had to purchase MLOA hardware certificates to do business with the DoD at the appropriate assurance level and other credentials to do business with other partners," said Malcolm Carrie, Head of Strategy & Architecture at BAE Systems. "Operating with multiple credentials was complex for the user and costly to manage. Exostar's FIS MLOA hardware certificates give us the opportunity to use a single credential to work more effectively with our customers and industry partners throughout the world and to have consolidated reporting, management, and support processes which will ultimately provide an improved user experience, as well as streamlined management and operations."

Exostar's FIS is a fully-managed, comprehensive PKI service for the issuance and maintenance of digital certificates. FIS enables full lifecycle management of certificates, strong authentication practices, and controlled access to applications - minimizing risk and assuring resources and intellectual assets are protected over the extended enterprise.

"The DoD PKI Policy Management Authority has set up a rigorous process to validate the delivery of MLOA hardware certificates to the supplier community," said Paul Grant of the Department of Defense CIO's office. "We are pleased that Exostar has completed its interoperability testing, which extends the ability for suppliers to now obtain these certificates in a competitive, economical, and highly supportable fashion."

"Exostar has long been a leader in identity assurance for aerospace and defense," said Vijay Takanti, Exostar's Vice President of Security and Collaboration Solutions. "Achieving this milestone is part of our ongoing strategy to enable our customers to securely collaborate with their community, with scale and efficiency."

About Exostar

Exostar powers secure multi-enterprise information sharing, collaboration and business process integration throughout the value chain. Exostar was founded in 2000 to support the complex trading needs of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies, including BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Co. and Rolls-Royce. Exostar's identity assurance products and on-demand business applications reduce risk, improve agility and strengthen trading partner relationships and profitability for over 70,000 companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.exostar.com.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the premier global defense, security and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. With approximately 105,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded 18.5 billion pounds (US $34.4 billion) in 2008.

    Media Contact:
    Alan Gilbert
    Exostar
    (703) 793-7735 (o)
    (703) 624-4675 (m)
    Alan.Gilbert@exostar.com

SOURCE Exostar

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