Swedish Government Selects Pointsec and Entrust to Deliver Secure Authentication for Public Electronic ID Service
High Wycombe, UK, November 30, 2005 – Pointsec, the Nordic market leader for Digital Identity solutions, today announced it has been selected by nine of Sweden’s largest public administrations to provide strong user authentication to over 500,000 users. This solution will be an important part of the new Government personal identification platform, designed to facilitate citizens’ access to eGovernment services.
The contract to supply the government agencies is worth more than SEK 5.1 Million for Pointsec, a transaction that has been booked in Q2, 2005. Delivery and implementation is carried out by Pointsec together with its strategic business partner Entrust Inc. [NASDAQ: ENTU], a world-leading provider of Identity and Access Management solutions.
The Swedish Government has selected Entrust IdentityGuard for secure authentication of the electronic ID service. This innovative solution is already in use with the Swedish National Labor Market Board (AMS).
“We believe this contract signals a breakthrough for Entrust’s approach to user authentication, which is perfectly suited for organizations that are looking to enhance their online service offering to a wide range of users,” said Peter Larsson, CEO, Pointsec. “IdentityGuard meet the security requirements, while being both very cost effective and easy to use.”
The government contract has been negotiated by a joint working group with representatives from the nine involved authorities, which include the National Labour Market Board (AMS), the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the Swedish Enforcement Agency, the V?¤stra G?¶taland Region, the ?–sterg?¶tland County Council, the Stockholm County Council, and the cities of G?¶teborg, Malm?¶ and Stockholm.
“The Swedish Government is a world leader in offering advanced web-based services to its citizens and businesses,” said Hans Ydema, Senior Vice President at Entrust. “The Government’s decision to make a large-scale implementation of Entrust IdentityGuard is a great testament to the strength of our offering. Through our partnership with Pointsec, we are now well prepared to meet a rising demand for secure, user friendly authentication in the Nordic market.”
The working group with Swedish Government authorities has placed special emphasis on making eGovernment facilities available to mobile users, and to citizens without access to home PCs.
The ID services can thus be used by people who contact authorities by telephone, in cases where it is essential that the public officials are absolutely sure of whom they are talking to. The basic requirement is to offer services that meet high security standards, while also being easy to use.
“With this solution in place, citizens and businesses will be able to use the Internet to manage a number of government services that currently require communication in writing, personal visits, or contacts during office hours,” said Lars Sj?¶str?¶m, Deputy Director of AMS. “Entrust IdentityGuard provides us with a solution that is both easy to use and cost effective while providing the necessary level of security to protect these sensitive on-line transactions and services.”
About Entrust IdentityGuard
Entrust IdentityGuard provides a simple method of authenticating users by deploying random grids of characters that are in turn used to answer a challenge presented when accessing on-line services. By requiring different combinations from the grid to answer each randomized challenge, attackers have little probability of being able to intercept a login and subsequently use it to gain access to a user’s account. Implementing the Entrust IdentityGuard system is made easier for customers by working with their existing applications to add incremental authentication requirements to existing username and password deployments. More information on Entrust IdentityGuard is available at: www.entrust.com/identityguard/index.htm.