Entrust Sets Secure E-Commerce Initiative ‘In Motion’

E-commerce security solutions provider Entrust Technologies (Nasdaq: ENTU) has 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, will first add the Entrust/Express security solution 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.

“Security is a key concern and a fundamental requirement when sending and receiving certain sensitive and confidential corporate information from a wireless handheld,” commented Jim Balsillie, RIM chairman and co-CEO. “This agreement facilitates RIM’s intention to ship wireless subscriber devices that are e-commerce ready.”

Ontario, Canada-based Research In Motion Limited develops and integrates hardware, software and services for the mobile market. The company’s portfolio of products includes the BlackBerry wireless e-mail solution, the RIM Inter@ctive Pager product line, wireless personal computer card adapters, embedded radio-modems and software development tools.

PKI for the Wireless World

This week’s announcement builds upon Entrust’s wireless strategy to position its PKI (public key infrastructure) solutions to enable the delivery of digital certificates for users who work with the mobile Internet platform. The BlackBerry handheld unit, integrated with Entrust/Express for secure e-mail communications and transactions, will be demonstrated on January 17th at the RSA Security Conference in San Jose, California.

“Enabling our collective existing and future customers to capitalize on the forecasted exponential growth of wireless e-business is a manifestation of the aggressive strategy we’ve recently announced,” stated John Ryan, Entrust president and CEO.

“We believe that we’re very well positioned to do something significant in this new space,” added Brian O’Higgins, executive vice president, CTO, and co-founder of Entrust.

PKI utilizes the power of cryptography, a means to scramble data through mathematical algorithms. Although the issue of encryption technology has remained controversial, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a new set of rules this week that relaxes export restrictions for high tech firms.

Learning To SEE

Plano, Texas-based Entrust issued a white paper in the fall of 1999, titled “The Security Enabled E-business [SEE]: The Management Mandate for the New Millennium,” in which it outlined a framework for what it will take for a business to securely and successfully move its operations online.

“With the proper security infrastructure, companies can dramatically reduce the cost of transactions, lower the cost of remote access, launch new lines of business quicker by shortening the time-to-market, lessen corporate risks, and effectively communicate with much wider audiences of partners, suppliers, employees and customers,” observed Ryan.

“Because a SEE views security as a doorway to new opportunities rather than a defensive posture it can more fully realize its business goals,” he said.

Entrust believes that SEE will become a sort of seal of approval that it applies to firms that it feels have leveraged technology to achieve their business goals while ensuring the security of all transactions.