Entrust Taps Oracle To Enhance E-Commerce Security

Entrust Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU), a provider of wireline and wireless e-commerce security solutions, announced a strategic agreement this week with database titan Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) to integrate their technologies for increased levels of available e-business security.

The agreement, which builds upon a previously established relationship, will combine Oracle’s commercial-grade data security with Entrust’s public-key infrastructure (PKI) technology, starting with the Oracle8i database product.

Secure Collaboration

Oracle8i users will be the first to be directly affected by the collaboration, with access to an integration of the Oracle advanced security product and Entrust’s security features through authentication, encryption and enterprise security management capabilities. Entrust will ensure that the core components of its PKI software will run on Oracle8i.

According to Oracle, its LDAP Internet directory product will be combined with the Entrust/PKI technology, giving Entrust users critical enterprise security information management capabilities such as certificate revocation status. Additionally, Oracle will embed the Entrust.net root key certificate in several products, including Oracle Application Server, Oracle advanced security and Oracle Internet Directory, enhancing the security of its products for e-commerce.

Oracle and Entrust began collaborating on security technologies in January 1999. According to a joint statement, the combined technologies, which are already under development, will ship this summer.

“We look forward to strengthening our long-standing relationship with Entrust as we continue to enhance our secure end-to-end e-business solutions,” stated Chuck Rozwat, executive vice president of server technologies for Oracle.

About Entrust

Plano, Texas-based Entrust recently launched an initiative with Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) to offer secure wireless e-commerce solutions to the mobile marketplace.

Research In Motion (RIM), a provider of wireless data products and services, is set to first add the Entrust security solutions to its BlackBerry wireless e-mail product. Future applications that will be covered by the agreement include secure online banking, e-brokerage functions and other mobile e-commerce initiatives for both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets.

Originally a division of Nortel Networks in Ottawa, Canada, Entrust spun off as a separate international provider of electronic security solutions in December of 1996.

The PKI Forum

In other news, e-commerce security provider Rainbow Technologies Inc. announced Monday that it has joined the recently formed PKI Forum, an industry-led coalition to accelerate the adoption of PKI-based security. The company will join Baltimore Technologies, Cisco, Entrust, HP, Microsoft, RSA Security and others in the consortium.

“As PKI emerges as the security environment of choice for eBusiness, it is important that companies who provide PKI security solutions work together to better understand, integrate and develop this powerful technology to better secure e-commerce and Internet infrastructures,” commented Robert Shields, director of strategic marketing for Rainbow Technologies.

Rainbow recently struck am OEM agreement with Network Engines to offer businesses a secure e-commerce enabling option. Under the terms of the agreement, Network Engines is set to incorporate Rainbow’s PKI-based CryptoSwift technology into its CommerceEngine Internet server appliance product.