Entrust-Secured INTERPOL Smartcard Credential Achieving Swift Global Adoption, Now Recognized by 31 Countries

DALLAS, Nov. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fewer than 18 months after its announcement, the INTERPOL Global Smart eID & eVisa, secured by public key infrastructure (PKI) technology from Entrust Inc., is already recognized by 31 countries on five continents. There are more than 60 additional countries currently undergoing the process to accept the multipurpose, smartcard-based credential.

"Our agency understood the importance of this multipurpose credential, but it's strong validation that 31 countries have already authorized its acceptance at border control agencies," said INTERPOL Secretary General Ron Noble. "It's quite an achievement and we're anxious to finalize agreements with more countries in the coming months."

Of the 31 countries that now recognize the INTERPOL Global Smart eID & eVisa, 18 are in Africa, four in Europe, three in the Middle East, four in Asia, one in Central America and another in South America. In fact, three important regional bodies — Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (SARPCCO) and the African Union (AU) — are already in support of the new travel document. Negotiations with four others, including the European Union (EU), remain positive and ongoing.

The first of its kind in the world, the new travel document provides enterprise smartcard capabilities for both logical and physical access, but also is a fully compliant electronic machine-readable travel document (eMRTD) supporting both Basic Access Control (BAC) and Extended Access Control (EAC) ePassport standards. The identity document was designed, developed and deployed as a collaborative effort between INTERPOL, Entrust and EDAPS.

"Whether for border security, enterprise authentication or general identification, multipurpose smartcard credentials are gaining critical traction across the globe," said Entrust President and CEO Bill Conner. "This early global momentum, for such an innovative identity document, is further proof that INTERPOL's vision will serve as a real-world blueprint for organizations in the near term."

>> Download Case Study: INTERPOL, Entrust Develop Advanced Multipurpose Smartcard

Furthering the company's ongoing relationship with the police agency, Entrust was on hand this week at the INTERPOL 80th General Assembly, which runs through Nov. 4 in Hanoi, Vietnam. During last year's General Assembly in Doha, Qatar, Conner presented many attendees with their first look at the Global Smart eID & eVisa via a formal address to global leaders and dignitaries.

Based on Entrust's hosted PKI platform, the multipurpose credential not only acts as an eID for physical and logical access to INTERPOL facilities and networks, but importantly provides the foundation for special Visa status from granting member countries. Officers only need the single multipurpose smartcard for secure enterprise access and expedited border crossings with countries that INTERPOL has established Visa waiver relationships.

Entrust is a leader in global eMRTD deployment and design, offering proven turnkey smartcard eIDs and PKI solutions that can be scaled for environments in various verticals and of unique scope. More than 1,000 government and commercial organizations have purchased Entrust PKI solutions since Entrust brought the first PKI to market in the 1990s. Entrust also offers a convenient hosted PKI service — branded Entrust Managed Services PKI — that helps reduce upfront investment or the need for in-house experts and secure facilities.

With 190 member countries, INTERPOL is the world's largest international police organization. Created in 1923, it facilitates cross-border police cooperation, and supports and assists all organizations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime.

>>Tweet It: Entrust-Secured INTERPOL Smartcard Credential Achieving Global Adoption, Now Recognized by 31 Countries.

About Entrust

A trusted provider of identity-based security solutions, Entrust empowers enterprises, governments, financial institutions, citizens and websites in more than 4,000 organizations spanning 60 countries. Entrust's customer-centric focus is the foundation to delivering organizations an unmatched level of security, trust and value. For strong authentication, credentialing, physical and logical access, mobile security, digital certificates, SSL and PKI, call 888-690-2424, email [email protected] or visit www.entrust.com. Let's talk.

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