Newsbytes, Tuesday, October 12, 1999 at 08:52
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, 1999 OCT 12 (NB) -- By Sylvia Dennis, Newsbytes.
Ericsson [NASDAQ:ERICY] has teamed with Sonera's SmartTrust division
to develop the industry's first digital signature technology for
mobile phones.
Sonera's SmartTrust division specializes in PKI (Public Key
Infrastructure) technology for mobile applications. The linkup with
Ericsson means that mobile phone operators and commercial bodies will
soon have access to authenticated transactions over WAP (Wireless
Application Protocol)-enabled handsets.
At the Telecom '99 show in Geneva, where the two firms made their
announcement, Ericsson said it is demonstrating the technology on its
R320 microbrowser-enabled global system for mobile (GSM) communications
handset.
By using the R320 and the SmartTrust PKI technology, Ericsson said
that network operators can now offer their customers access to
authenticated wireless transactions.
Ericsson said that the software was designed by its staff in close
conjunction with Sonera's SmartTrust operation. Plans call for the
technology to be launched on other WAP/microbrowser-enabled handsets in
the coming months.
For the technically-minded, the digital signature technology supports
1,204-bit RSA data encryption. Using PKI technology, the system is
billed as one of the most secure and reliable methods of
authenticating e-transactions from a mobile device.
Harru Vatanen, Sonera's senior vice president, said that the
technology is both secure and transparent. When combined with
graphical interface of a WAP device, he said. it opens the door to
secure wireless commerce.
"Our objective is to provide potential partners and customers with
complete solutions enabling secure communications between advanced
mobile devices, customers and service providers," he said, adding that
WAP will be a critical operational environment for our solutions and
applications.
Ericsson's Web site is at ericsson.com .
Reported by Newsbytes.com, newsbytes.com .
(19991012/Press Contact: Antoinette Torell, Ericsson +46-70-519-3699;
Sari Laitinen, Sonera SmartTrust +358-40-511-8108
/WIRES TELECOM, ONLINE, BUSINESS/) |
