Baltimore Technologies Chosen by DigiNotar for Secure E-Commerce Service; Baltimore UniCERT Powers Commercial Certificate Authority Service in The Netherlands.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 1999--

Baltimore Technologies (London: BLM), a global leader in e-commerce and enterprise security, today announced that DigiNotar has licensed its Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) software to establish a national Commercial Certificate Authority (CCA) service in The Netherlands.

This technology will enable DigiNotar to offer a service that can confirm the identity of Internet users for secure, authenticated e-business.

DigiNotar was established following research conducted by the Royal Dutch Notary Society (KNB) and it is now comprised of a network of Trusted Third Parties (TTP) notaries all over The Netherlands. Using the Baltimore UniCERT CA system, the DigiNotar-notary will issue digital certificates to business and individuals for secure e-mail, web, VPNs and to a variety of e-commerce transactions. Digital certificates are in essence digital IDs that can be used in all common Internet software to attest to the identity of users.

"DigiNotar was established to offer electronic security and trust and to build user confidence in the Internet, which we believe is key to the growth of e-commerce. This is why Baltimore UniCERT, as an enabling PKI technology, has a major role in our plans. Baltimore Technologies has worked extensively with Commercial Certificates worldwide, and has proven technology and exceptional expertise in this sector," said Tony de Bos, Managing Director of DigiNotar.

The network of TTP notaries across The Netherlands enables registration to be conducted at a local level. The notary is responsible for declaring that the owner of the certificate appeared at his office and that he was able to verify his or her identity. When the TTP-notary has checked all the facts of the person applying for the certificate, a request is sent using Baltimore's software to DigiNotar, who issues the digital certificate using Baltimore UniCERT.

"A notary in the physical world is the designated party to offer trust and security for society and are therefore perfect candidates to enable the registration and certification of individuals and businesses in the electronic world. The notaries collaborating under the name of DigiNotar are in an ideal position to leverage the existing network of Trusted relationships that the notaries have established, to make digital certificate technology accessible to the general public," commented Herma Volwater, Regional Sales Manager, Baltimore.

An example of where digital certificates can maximize efficiency of existing business practice would be the security of the data-flow between Dutch notaries and the Dutch Land Registration Authority (LRA Kadaster). Whenever a house in The Netherlands is bought and sold, a deed is executed by a notary, which then has to be entered into the system of the Land Registration Authority. This means that a copy of the deed has to be sent to the LRA on paper, where it is manually inputted into the system. Through the use of PKI and digital certificates, this process can be executed more timely and efficiently via electronic means.

As Baltimore UniCERT was designed using open standards, it permits interoperability with other security software and hardware systems. Baltimore's complete PKI solution portfolio also includes a range of cryptographic toolkits to PKI-enable any system, which, in turn, will permit mass market acceptance of Commercial CA networks.

About Baltimore UniCERT

Baltimore UniCERT CA is a modular, policy-driven system offering flexible, scalable deployment for both public and private CAs. Its modular design allows for distributed operation for a wide variety of systems, including electronic transactions, secure e-mail, secure web and Virtual Private Networks. UniCERT's unique policy enforcement system enhances the management of digital certificates by enabling security policies to be enforced at registration and at application level.