Diversinet to Offer Sleek, Simple Solution for Secure Electronic Eommerce
New product revolutionizes e-commerce enabling servers
with unmatched flexibility and efficiency
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca., Jan. 13 /CNW-PRN/ - Diversinet Corp. (NASDAQ:DVNTF; CDN:DVNT) announced today at the 1998 RSA Conference, the premier international cryptography event of the year, its plans to launch an all-new product line as the company changes its strategic direction to offer ground-breaking technology for secure electronic commerce-enabling servers.
Diversinet's technology will provide businesses with efficient and versatile turnkey security solutions for Intranet, Extranet and Internet applications. Compared to the more cumbersome products available on the market today, a Diversinet-enabled system is much more scalable. It can service several hundred users or several million users, without frustrating lag times.
The key advantage of the Diversinet technology is its simplicity,'' said Dr. Taher Elgamal, Chief Scientist for Netscape Communications Corp. ''It is a flexible, effective and efficient security solution for e-commerce applications,'' added Dr. Elgamal, who also serves on Diversinet's board of directors.
Complete anonymity and security
Diversinet's certification server, the company's core product, issues on-demand 'D-certificates' and distributes public keys in an anonymous and trusted manner. Unlike current systems where the certificates include additional personal information that is irrelevant to the user's need for access to the system (e.g. name, address, phone number), D-certificates only carry the user's alpha-numerical ID. This reduces process time and the amount of memory required to store the certificate, making it more efficient and significantly less expensive to encode on a smart card. Diversinet products can be either software-based or can use hardware smart cards for authenticating users.
There is also no need for a revocation process since the owner of the certificate controls the certificate public key. The certification server distributes the certificate but does not attest to any knowledge of the owner.
The certification server, which is scheduled for release in May, will include client software to retrieve, store and maintain D-certificates as well as a toolkit to allow developers to use D-certificates within their applications. The product will include a ''light authentication'' system that will allow companies to simply integrate the certification process into existing and/or new systems.
Streamlined authorization process
Diversinet's authorization server works with the certificate server to increase the security of applications by enabling them to determine the level of permitted access for any user. Unlike other authorization servers, the Diversinet product will allow access to users without prior setup within the applications. The authorization server utilizes D-permits - portable credentials that are carried by the users and presented when needed, eliminating the need for an application database. The authorization servers will be available in the third quarter of this year.
Diversinet is poised to revolutionize the burgeoning e-commerce security market with its flexible, efficient, and effective products,'' said Nagy Moustafa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversinet Corp. ''Our patented authorization and authentication technology positions Diversinet to be an industry leader.''
Diversinet is working with OEMs to license the technology for future product development so that it becomes a standard for secure, corporate e-commerce solutions'', Moustafa added. |
