Northrop Grumman Cross-Certifies with CertiPath's 'Trusted PKI Bridge'.Directly Links Top A&D Contractors with One Another and Key U.S. Government Agencies - Cutting Red Tape and Streamlining Collaboration Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. Obtains Industry Cross-Certification MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Northrop Grumman has cross-certified its secure public key infrastructure (PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) A framework for creating a secure method for exchanging information based on public key cryptography. The foundation of a PKI is the certificate authority (CA), which issues digital certificates that authenticate the identity of ) system with the CertiPath PKI bridge. CertiPath is a partnership of ARINC/Exostar/SITA, and is dedicated to providing the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry with a trusted mechanism to use digital (PKI) credentials globally. In a formal ceremony at VeriSign's headquarters in Mountain View, CA, CertiPath issued its PKI Cross-Certificate to Northrop Grumman. The ceremony follows approximately six months of policy, procedure and infrastructure development. Cross-certification with CertiPath constitutes a key milestone for Northrop Grumman, which streamlined multiple policies and security procedures in order to meet the CertiPath policies for cross-certification. The CertiPath policies are modeled after U.S. government and other similar certificate policies. "Northrop Grumman now has more streamlined access to our largest customers," said Thomas Shelman, Vice President, IT Solutions and Chief Information Officer, Northrop Grumman. "Additionally, we expect to benefit from increased efficiencies and reduced overhead in administering our digital identity management processes with the harmonization har·mo·nize v. har·mo·nized, har·mo·niz·ing, har·mo·niz·es v.tr. 1. To bring or come into agreement or harmony. See Synonyms at agree. 2. Music To provide harmony for (a melody). of digital credentials Digital credentials are meant to be the digital equivalent of paper based credentials. Just as an example a paper based credential could be a passport, a Driver's license, a membership certificate or some kind of ticket to obtain some service, like a cinema ticket or a public across our company." CertiPath directly links commercial enterprises with one another and more than 500,000 colleagues at key government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States and the Treasury and State Departments. Digital credentials of Northrop Grumman employees can be used outside of their internal systems with several cutting-edge U.S. and U.K. government programs. These programs are working to accept company-issued credentials for sending and receiving secured e-mail, as well as accessing government-owned web-based applications and websites. This credentialing will eliminate the need for Northrop Grumman employees to have multiple digital credentials, reducing costs and risks to the company. CertiPath is becoming the commercial industry's de facto standard Hardware or software that is widely used, but not endorsed by a standards organization. Contrast with de jure standard. de facto standard - A widespread consensus on a particular product or protocol which has not been ratified by any official standards body, such as ISO, for PKI policy and verification of adherence to. CertiPath in effect becomes a key component of industry and government-wide single sign-on An identification system that lets users log into multiple Web sites on the Internet with one username and password. Single sign-on systems are also used within an enterprise, enabling users to access all authorized resources in the local network using the same username and password. and secured collaboration. Using trusted digital signatures, it secures document and e-mail exchanges and any transactions requiring a high assurance of someone's identity. About CertiPath CertiPath is a partnership of ARINC ARINC Aeronautical Radio, Inc. ARINC Aircraft Radio Incorporated ARINC Aeronautical Research Incorporated , Exostar and SITA, dedicated to providing the A&D industry with a trusted mechanism to use digital (PKI) credentials globally. CertiPath directly links commercial enterprises with one another and more than 500,000 colleagues at key government agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States , Treasury and State. CertiPath enables secure trusted identity assurance between organizations, partners and customers through the first commercially managed public key infrastructure (PKI)-based bridging mechanism. Initially designed for the international aerospace and defense community, the CertiPath PKI Bridge enables the transfer of secured and authenticated au·then·ti·cate tr.v. au·then·ti·cat·ed, au·then·ti·cat·ing, au·then·ti·cates To establish the authenticity of; prove genuine: a specialist who authenticated the antique samovar. data globally between participating companies and domestic and foreign government agencies. This shared trust network drives down the cost of using PKI globally, as well as the cost associated with maintaining secured customer and supplier relationships on a one-on-one basis. For more information visit: www.certipath.com. |
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