Improving e-mail security

Computer Weekly / 17 July 1999 / David Bicknell

Brokers in the Lloyd's of London insurance market have turned to public key infrastructure technologies to improve its e-mail security.

The move marks the first major business-to-business application for the digital certificate-based technology, which has confused some users and disappointed some early adopters.

Although some high-profile adopters, such as Canada's ScotiaBank, have successfully implemented the technologies, other users who have spent large sums on public key infrastructures have still to exploit it fully.

Interoperability is a major concern, with a string of suppliers still to deliver real solutions. The problem, according to some users at the recent ICX conference in Dublin, is already hampering the development of e-commerce.

One UK public key infrastructure consultancy, Trustis, has now insisted it only wants to work with suppliers that are committed to openness.

The fledgling company has already isolated vendors it feels it can work with, including Entegrity Solutions, Xcert, and GTE Cybertrust and iD2 Technologies.