Zero-Knowledge Systems Cryptographer Dr. Stefan Brands Reveals New Private Authentication and Commerce Techniques in MIT Press Book

Business Wire, Nov 15, 2000

Business Editors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2000

Zero-Knowledge White Paper Reveals How Brands' Private Credential

Techniques Enhance Existing PKI and Digital Certificate Models

Dr. Stefan Brands, a renowned senior cryptographer at leading privacy company Zero-Knowledge(R) Systems and adjunct professor at McGill University's School of Computer Science, unveils new privacy-enhancing techniques in his book "Rethinking Public Key Infrastructures and Digital Certificates: Building in Privacy," published by MIT Press.

The book includes a foreword by Professor Ronald L. Rivest of MIT's Laboratory of Computer Science, who co-invented the RSA crypto system and is one of the world's leading cryptographers. It can be purchased at: http://store.freedom.net.

Existing digital certificate and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) models, currently the foundation for safeguarding electronic communications and transactions, ignore the privacy considerations of individuals and organizations. In his book, Dr. Brands presents a privacy-enabled alternative that not only protects privacy but also increases efficiency and security for users and operators. The Brands techniques enable people to use a smartcard, PDA, mobile phone, or any other computing device to transfer digital credentials and purchase goods with electronic cash, while assuring their privacy. Individuals are empowered to disclose specific credentials such as age or gender without revealing other information that could be collected into a personal profile. Also unique to the Brands techniques is the easy transfer of personal credentials and electronic cash between the online and physical worlds.

The Brands techniques can be used to create privacy-enhanced systems for, among others:

--M-commerce
--Age or gender verification
--E-commerce
--Digital rights management
--Electronic voting
--Identity management
--Location-based services
--Frequent buyer rewards and gift certificates

At Zero-Knowledge Systems, Dr. Brands works with a committed team of cryptographers, programmers and privacy experts to implement his techniques into the company's privacy solutions for businesses and consumers. Dr. Brands is the owner of eight international patents on electronic cash and digital certificates, to which Zero-Knowledge gained exclusive rights in February 2000.

Zero-Knowledge Systems today also released a white paper detailing the Brands credentials technology and contrasting it with existing X.509 digital certificate models. It is a summation and explanation of the privacy issues related to PKI and the solutions Dr. Brands details in his book. The paper is useful for business and technology executives and other interested parties working with PKI and does not require the same level of technical or mathematical knowledge as the book. It is available at: http://www.zeroknowledge.com/media/credsnew.pdf

"Brands' breakthrough techniques show how electronic commerce and other information systems can be designed to provide security without sacrificing privacy. This work is a 'must read' for anyone concerned with security or privacy in the information infrastructure," said Professor Hal Abelson of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The book is based on the doctoral thesis Dr. Brands successfully defended in 1999 at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The committee that awarded him his doctorate included three of the world's top cryptographers: Adi Shamir (Weizmann Institute of Science), Ronald L. Rivest (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Claus Schnorr (University of Frankfurt am Main).

"Current efforts to secure electronic communication and transactions have a devastating effect on the privacy of individuals. In my book, I raise awareness of this problem by describing the many privacy and security risks that exist, and at the same time offer a solution that allows individuals to communicate and transact securely and with privacy," said Dr. Brands. "Zero-Knowledge Systems is in a unique position to drive adoption of this and other privacy-protecting solutions, due to our commitment to strong privacy, unmatched technical and policy expertise and our privacy offerings like the Freedom(R) Internet Privacy Suite and Managed Privacy Services(TM)."

"This long-awaited book belongs on the shelf, or at the elbow, of every serious student of digital signatures, public key infrastructures, and their possible social consequences. It defines the state of the art and, more importantly, situates that art in the broader context of privacy and surveillance," said Michael Froomkin, professor of law at the University of Miami.

Zero-Knowledge Systems Leads Privacy Education

Dr. Brands will also be a featured speaker when Zero-Knowledge Systems presents the "Privacy by Design: The Future of Privacy Compliance and Business" conference sponsored by Royal Bank Financial Group, IBM, Merrill Lynch, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Incorporating the privacy expertise of leading business, technology and privacy figures, Privacy by Design will advise attendees on how to develop, execute and market a successful privacy strategy that will avoid regulatory breaches and differentiate their business in the marketplace with a demonstrable commitment to privacy. The conference will be held at Le Chateau Montebello, Quebec from November 19 to 21, 2000. For more information on Privacy by Design, including a detailed agenda, visit the conference Web site: http://www.zeroknowledge.com/privacybydesign.html.>