Entrust Expands Managed Border Solution, Adds Integration to ICAO Repository

DALLAS, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- As issuance of ePassports has increased on a global scale, the ability of countries to utilize the new capabilities has not kept pace. To assist governments with this effort, Entrust, Inc., expands its managed border solution to provide governments an easy-to-deploy method for inspecting today's advanced electronic machine-readable travel documents (eMRTD).

"Organizations can now deploy a single, managed solution to strengthen or reinforce identity-based security at border checkpoints," said Entrust President and CEO Bill Conner. "Based on extensive experience with government and law enforcement agencies, Entrust offers countries a smart, cost-effective option to improve border security with a hosted solution that takes advantage of second-generation eMRTD security features."

A component of Entrust Credentialing Services, the new Entrust offering simplifies the complex architecture associated with validating eMRTDs. It enables border security agencies to download revocation information from the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) public key directory (PKD); establish integration with domestic no-fly lists; and secure the transmission of validation material.

"Secure, seamless integration to these vital repositories helps form a trusted global security infrastructure," said Mauricio Siciliano, manager of the ICAO eMRTD Program. "It's the continued innovation of this trust foundation that will improve overall border security and help slow and deter identity-based fraud, international crime and other illegal activity."

Based on Entrust's proven hosted public key infrastructure technology (PKI), Entrust provides governments the ability to properly read and verify first- and second-generation eMRTDs. The managed solution is deployed as a cloud-based service, further simplifying the need for dedicated hardware, facilities and expertise. For governments with limited expertise and budget, this managed solution provides key components for proper document inspection — from a single, proven vendor.

"Understandably, great expense comes when implementing border controls, readers, endpoints, watch list integration and infrastructure," said Conner. "With a hosted solution, border control agencies don't require in-house expertise for PKI, and Entrust has established the appropriate relationship with ICAO — saving time, money and resources."

Participating in ICAO's PKD is critical to verify the authenticity of ePassports from other countries. And, conversely, other countries can help identify fraudulent ePassports being issued in another country's name.

To ensure the secure exchange of the documents and certificates, Entrust also encrypts all transmissions — providing a trusted infrastructure and protecting the integrity of all exchanged data.

Entrust ePassport solutions have been deployed in 15 countries, who have collectively issued more than half of the world's ePassports in use today. Entrust solutions are also used by more than 35 countries and 60 U.S. federal agencies.

Entrust has been a trusted advisor to many countries as they pursue ePassport projects. The technology is currently in use in a number of countries issuing a high volume of ePassports, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore, Ireland, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, New Zealand, Canada and Finland.

The capabilities also can be extended to inspect documents in other scenarios and environments, from creating secure VIP areas at large events to verification of first responders at emergency scenes. The solution is based on the Entrust Managed Services PKI, which allows organizations to establish and maintain a trustworthy environment. This service provides certificates that secure many off-the-shelf applications using encryption, digital signatures and strong certificate authentication.

About Entrust

Entrust provides identity-based security solutions that empower enterprises, consumers, citizens and Web sites in more than 4,000 organizations spanning 60 countries. Entrust's identity-based approach offers the right balance between affordability, expertise and service. For strong authentication, fraud detection, digital certificates, SSL and PKI, call 888-690-2424, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.entrust.com.

Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited. All Entrust product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Entrust, Inc. or Entrust Limited. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Entrust