Tech Bytes: British Firm to Unveil Advanced Certification

Zergo Holdings PLC, the digital security company that does business under the Baltimore brand name, is adding attribute certificate capability to its Unicert certification system.

Zergo said it expects to have its Attribute Certificate Server on the market by midyear, addressing demand in the market for a more streamlined approach to digital certificates.

Well suited for corporate uses, attribute certificates can be applied to network or Web page access controls or on-line subscription services.

By separating a person's identity information from the attribute information and placing each in its own certificate, the issuing process becomes more targeted and appropriate, Zergo said. Multiple attributes can be attached to the same digital certificate. Validation and revocation, which can bog down regular certificate operations, are not problems because attributes can be for limited times and purposes.

Baltimore director of development Simon Laing called attribute certificates "an important advance" in public key infrastructure.

"Our technology and business partners are already identifying many other customer-specific applications for this technology, including controlling subscription entitlements, restricting access to classified documents, and authenticating trading documents."

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