Entrust Technologies Inc., the data security company spun off by Northern Telecom of Canada, said it has come out with the 3.0 version of Entrust/Direct.
A package of data encryption and digital certificate technology for information protection between Internet browsers and server computers, Entrust/Direct in 1997 was incorporated in Bank of Nova Scotia's on-line banking and brokerage service. That implementation made the Toronto-based bank one of the biggest issuers of digital certificates on the World Wide Web.
With the add-on Entrust Privacy Server, a financial institution can tie anonymous certificates to desired sets of information, which bolsters personal privacy.
The 3.0 version was piloted this year by the United Kingdom's Royal Mail. When a business uses the Internet to reach employees, customers, and business partners, "Entrust/Direct 3.0 delivers a flexible means of communicating key information securely through a browser," said Entrust president John Ryan. Integrity and confidentiality are strengthened because "passwords and confidential user information are retained locally and not sent over the Internet."