First Universal Standard for E-Commerce Security is Deposited in Bunker Beneath Swiss Alps - CBL WorldKey - Technology Information

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, August 30, 1999

The highest-security facility in the Swiss Alps, operated by the Swiss military, is now home to the world's first common global root--an integral component in a world standard for e-commerce security. Based on the World Internet Secure Key WISeKey Technologies, CBL WorldKey has been launched as the first certification authority to issue certificates of authenticity, the "keys" that electronically unlock and verify the holder's identity along with other information.

The common global root is being stored in the high-security bunker by the agencies responsible for creating and operating the root key: the World International Secure Electronic Key (WISeKey), the International Secure Electronic Transactions Organization (ISETO), the World Trade Center-Geneva, the Electronic Commerce Centre of Excellence (ECCE) and CBL WorldKey LLC, the US-based organization that will market the technology worldwide. CBLWorldKey.com will also serve as the portal site for CBL WorldKey certification and other highly secure business-related interests. CBL WorldKey LLC is a subsidiary of Credit Bancorp Ltd., a Geneva-based financial engineering and investment firm.

"This system enables people to transact business with a trading partner anywhere in the world and do so in complete confidence and security, without the involvement of third parties," said Richard J. Blech, Chairman and CEO of CBL WorldKey. "You know exactly the credentials of the person on the other end, and they know yours. And, more importantly, you will know the veracity and the genuineness of the proposed transaction."

"We see CBL WorldKey changing the very dynamic of Internet commerce," said Carlos Moreira, Secretary General of ISETO. "Now entire sectors of the Internet can be made secure with access limited to only those holding the proper certification. That means that highly secure virtual communities can be created easily and in limitless variety."

"CBL WorldKey will create the business internet," said Malcolm Hutchinson, CEO of WISeKey SA, "by creating a certified channel where only certified users will be authorized to transact securely anywhere in the world."

CBL WorldKey technology is based on an international Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and uses a highly encrypted "key," which is held in common by countries and other certification authorities throughout the world. CBL WorldKey authenticates and authorizes digitized communications, including all forms of e-commerce, across the Internet, Intranets and Extranets.

Digital certificates provide trusted electronic credentials that enable authenticated and encrypted communications and transactions between sites and individuals over the Internet. They can also be used for securing a wide variety of other items, from Digital TV and Cable broadcasting to aircraft parts.

Until now, certification had to be between two parties or countries only, making it necessary to create new and different certifications each time another entity was introduced. While individual countries and organizations may, as certification authorities, have their own proprietary authentication systems, CBL WorldKey is the world's first certification authority based on a universal standard for e-commerce security made available to enterprises, electronic commerce service providers and individuals. Because it is based on International Telecommunications Union" (ITU's) X509v3 standard, CBL WorldKey is compatible with all main certification authorities, such as VeriSign, GlobalSign, Netrust, Entrust, Baltimore, etc. CBL WorldKey provides those organizations with the added advantage of global recognition, making multiple certifications obsolete and streamlining Internet security measures.

CBL WorldKey thus unlocks a world of highly secure electronic communications in all their manifestations, from e-mail to e-trading, by electronically verifying that persons sending messages are exactly who they say they are. WorldKey solves the problem of securing transactions on the Internet by creating a common root for authentication and certification technology that will be broadly accepted with complete confidence by all Internet users.

The system greatly simplifies security arrangements on the Internet while providing users peace of mind. For example, commodities dealers in Singapore would have a digitized signature authenticating their identities along with other financial information. Buyers for such commodities in the United States, who are similarly authenticated, can then make contact with the dealers via the Internet and transact the deal. CBL WorldKey enables both parties to know exactly with whom they are dealing, anywhere in the world.

Policies for applying WISeKey technology are guided by the Global Certificate Authority Forum (GCAF) which is an expert group represented by certification authorities and PKI experts worldwide and which determines the minimum standard for issuance of highly authenticated certificates.

So far, major certification authorities in the world, including large corporations such as Baltimore, Swisskey, EuroKey, IndoKey, Spain ACE, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Oracle, Swisscom, COFACE, Kompass and several international banks have agreed to recognize the WISeKey technology as the common global root. Some of them are establishing Electronic Commerce Centers of Excellence using the WISeKey technology. In addition, more than twenty countries are in the process of creating national certification authorities, and all have requested usage of the common global root.