March 20, 2000

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Public Key Infrastructure Becomes E-Commerce Enabler
By Larry Kahaner

ublic key infrastructure lets users of an unsecure network, such as the Internet, safely exchange money and data. Public and private keys are created simultaneously, using the same mathematical scheme or algorithm, by a certificate authority. The public key is published in a directory to be used by anyone sending an encrypted message to the individual holding that particular private key, which is then used to decrypt the received information.

The technology has become an enabling force for E-commerce. Perot Systems Corp. in Plano, Texas, has switched from using a leased frame relay line on a private network to a virtual private network over the Internet to take advantage of Entrust Technologies Inc.'s PKI system. "VPNs offer a substantial return on investment," says Richard Karon, Perot's Internet security architect. The site-to-site 512-Kbps VPN model runs $100 a month, compared with $1,200 a month for the 256-Kbps frame relay service.

The next challenge is getting PKI systems to work together. "Interoperability is critical for corporations that want to exchange information," Karon says. "It would be a lot easier for us if interoperability were done at the vendor level."

This is being addressed: In December, Baltimore Technologies, Entrust, IBM, Microsoft, and RSA Security formed the PKI Forum to accelerate the adoption of a PKI standard for E-business. Since then, other companies, including Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard, have joined.

Banks have teamed to form their own standard, called Identrust. Scotia Bank in Toronto serves 170,000 retail customers using Entrust's PKI product to let consumers bank online securely, but differences among PKI products could hinder expansion beyond the banking community, says Drew Brown, senior VP of electronic banking. "As time goes on," he says, "we're going to have to interact with other businesses, and interoperability will be crucial."

Return to main story, "Companies Strive For Simpler Security."

Illustration by David Corrigan

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