Sorry about the word wrap!
I used "Use Fixed Font" when posting my message - mistake
Anyway good article:
British Postal Agency Offers Secure Net Mail -- Service Uses
Entrust Software To Verify IDs Of All Parties
Amy K. Larsen
U.K. Royal Mail last week became the first public mail institution to offer
businesses a secured Internet service that guarantees the integrity of Internet
mail and verifies the identities of all communicating parties.
The service, called ViaCode, uses public-key infrastructure (PKI) software
from Entrust Corp. to encrypt and decrypt data and authenticate users. PKI
relies on digital certificates to restrict access to documents so that only the
intended recipients can decrypt them. "We've been guaranteeing the privacy of
signed letters in sealed envelopes for 360 years," says Andrew Young, a
project manager at Royal Mail, adding that the new service extends this
guarantee to the electronic medium.
Postal services from some of the other 18 countries in the U.N.-sponsored
United Postal Union, including the U.S. Postal Service, are interested in
launching similar services, Young says. These postal groups are working to
make their services interoperable so certificate authorities run by postal
services in different countries can validate user identities.
Royal Mail is preparing other secured electronic applications as well. This
summer, it will debut a service that uses a time-stamp technology to supply an
audit trail and prove time of delivery, giving companies an electronic version of
an overnight courier or registered mail.
"What's impressive is that Royal Mail, which by its history is a paper-based
business, is now in the position to lead in E-commerce as opposed to be
victimized," says John Ryan, president and CEO of Entrust.
But not everyone is as confident of Royal Mail's future as an electronic service
provider. Says Carl Howe, an analyst at Forrester Research, "Companies are
more likely to turn to a more traditional notary, like a bank, to act as its PKI
service bureau."
Copyright (c) 1999 CMP Media Inc. |
