InformationWeek.com

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

June 14, 1999

TechView:
Application Dial Tone: It's Coming

s Jason Levitt writes in this week's article on public key infrastructure ("In Keys We Trust"), PKI is still something that is "the next big thing." It hasn't widely caught on with business IT departments simply because it hasn't quite measured up to the needs of industrial-strength IT--and what those needs are exactly haven't been nailed down, either.

However, there are a couple of other developing technologies that could have a major impact on how soon PKIs become commonplace. One of them is widely available broadband Internet access: cable modem, digital subscriber line, and other persistent connections to the Internet.

The reason is simple. The combination of PKI-secured applications and persistent, fast Internet connections means that just about any company application could be securely accessed from the Internet, without the kind of security burden currently placed on users of extranet applications: multiple passwords, weird software issues, and TCP/IP configuration games. Add directory services, and the story gets even more interesting.

PKI can potentially provide a single sign-on to the Web and extranet applications. Combine that with the potential of consumer broadband access, and suddenly you've got the makings of application dial tone--applications on demand, available at any time, over a virtual, secure, point-to-point connection. You'll be able to provide your customers with a branded view of the Internet--your branded PKI--and your applications and content will be provided without arcane passwords and URL trees to browse.

Make those PKI certificates portable, and the applications go with your customers. Put the certificate on a smart card--like a store credit card--and give it to a customer with a personal ID number. Do the same for your employees. Combine PKI with a directory service and you've got a way to deliver and manage IT user information across your company.

The result is that the Internet suddenly becomes a lot more like the real world, where the places you can go and what you can do depends greatly on your identity and what you're carrying around in your pockets. The PKI is your identity, the persistent Internet connection is your public transportation, and the directory service is your virtual trouser pockets.

That's clearly at least part of what Novell is thinking about with its digitalMe initiative, and that's where the world of electronic business is heading. The main thing that's holding adoption back right now is the emergence of a de facto standard. Once that happens, the Internet revolution will start all over again.