An E-Commerce Star is Born: Baltimore, Inc.

In conjunction with the RSA Data Security conference this week in San Jose, California, Baltimore made a number of announcements regarding its new e-commerce security technology, new customers and partnerships. Though you probably never heard of the company before, it looks like Baltimore will be a rising star among e-commerce technology developers, based on this week’s news of alliances with Intel, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG.

In fact, Baltimore was formed earlier this month, by the merger of Dublin-based Baltimore Technologies Ltd. and London-based Zergo Holdings plc (listed on the London Stock Exchange as: ZGO).

With combined forces, the company now has annual revenues in excess of $30 million (US$), over 350 employees, and customers in 40+ countries. The customer base includes some of the world’s leading financial, e-commerce, and telecom companies, as well as government agencies. Intel Corporation is also a minority shareholder.

Industry analysts have reacted positively to the merger, viewing it as a significant event which will enable the growth of PKI technology.

Making E-Commerce More Secure

The company develops security products and services for e-commerce and enterprise applications. Its products include Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems, cryptographic toolkits, security software, and cryptographic hardware.

PKI systems use cryptographic technology to produce digital signatures and ensure the confidentiality and authentication of information sent over the Internet. A Certification Authority (CA) issues a digital certificate (or electronic ID) which binds the user to their public key (a mathematical algorithm that scrambles electronic information when applied in order to keep it confidential). The end result becomes the user’s digital signature.

Baltimore made e-commerce history in September 1998, by providing a digital signature system that enabled U.S. President Clinton and Ireland’s Prime Minister Ahern to sign and verify electronic documents in a secure manner. They became the first two leaders to digitally sign an inter-governmental communique, registering a milestone for secure electronic commerce.

Baltimore On the Move this Week

Since announcing the Baltimore/Zergo merger on January 11, the company has made an aggressive marketing push:

Licensing UniCERT to Nine New Certificate Authorities Forming Strategic Alliances with KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers Announcing CDSA Licensing Agreement with Intel Launching “PKI World” Technology Alliance Releasing UniCERT 2.4 with PKI Auto-Registration & Enhanced VPN Support Licensing PKI Solutions to AlphaTrust for Commercial CA Service Delivering Elliptic Curve Certificates in conjunction with Certicom Partners with PricewaterhouseCoopers The two companies will work together to provide secure end-to-end e-commerce solutions for their customers using Baltimore’s PKI products and services. The alliance is between Baltimore and the Global Risk Management Solutions (GRMS) division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, which specializes in global security and network consulting.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is the world’s largest professional services organization, with more than 140,000 people in 152 countries.

Strategic Partnership with KPMG

Under this agreement, KPMG Trusted Third Party consultants will help European clients implement Baltimore’s e-commerce security products and services, with a focus on banking, government agencies, and the defense industry.

Based in Amsterdam, KPMG Trusted Third Party (TTP) Services is part of the global KPMG organization, one of the largest professional services firms in the world, specializing in accounting, management and finance. KPMG employs some 85,000 people, operating in 155 countries.

CDSA Licensing Agreement with Intel

Baltimore has become the first non-U.S. company to announce support for Intel’s technology known as CDSA (Common Data Security Architecture), and will market the technology worldwide.

CDSA is an industry standard, developed by Intel, for secure e-commerce and confidential transmission of information over the Internet. Baltimore will use Intel’s CDSA Security Framework in its developer toolkit products. The new CDSA-compliant toolkits will enable developers to build secure applications that interoperate with Public Key Infrastructure systems, such as Baltimore’s own UniCERT system.

PKI World – Technology Alliance

Baltimore also announced this week that it has established a technology alliance, known as PKI World, among companies that develop public key infrastructure (PKI) solutions. The companies will work together to ensure interoperability and easy deployment of their security solutions, based on conformance with existing open standards.

Participants include: Netscape, Cisco, Activcard, Chrysalis-ITS, Dascom, Datafellows, Datakey, Gemplus, Gradient, Kyberpass, PCSL, Platinum, Setec, Thawte Certification, Timestep, and Valicert.

Netscape’s David Weiden, who serves as VP of Direct Server and Security Products, indicates that, “Netscape shares Baltimore’s desire to simplify the deployment of PKI solutions based on common standards and an open architectural framework.” He sees the new alliance as “an important step in promoting the adoption of PKI solutions for e-commerce.”

Additional information can be found on Baltimore’s Web site at www.baltimoreinc.com.