Elliptic Curve Cryptography to secure data for Special Forces and U.S. Army Rangers
Mississauga, Ontario (July 20, 2005) – When Intelligent Recognition Systems, Inc landed a prestigious U.S. government contract that required a high level of security they turned to Certicom® Corp. (TSX: CIC), the authority for strong, efficient cryptography. Certicom announced today that Intelligent Recognition Systems, who is building prototype communications technology for the Special Forces and U.S. Army Rangers, will use the Certicom Security Architecture™ to generate certificates, encrypt data and provide elliptic curve cryptography (ECC)-based authentication.
"The system we're developing includes handheld devices that communicate with remote centers, which could be located anywhere in the world. So not only does the security have to be strong, it has to be small and fast," said Joyce Brykman, president, Intelligent Recognition Systems. "We chose Certicom for the team's security knowledge and expertise in ECC. And by using ECC for authentication, we're supporting NSA Type I (classified) certification."
ECC is used in a growing number of government communication applications because of its strength and efficiency and also because it is included in an increasing number of standards and protocols. Under the National Security Agency's (NSA) cryptographic modernization strategy, the U.S. government has recommended ECC as the exclusive key agreement and digital signature standard to protect sensitive but unclassified information. In 2003, the NSA named ECC as the public-key technology to protect mission critical information.
The characteristics of ECC make it ideal for securing communication today and in the future. It is considerably more efficient than legacy public-key schemes and its strength and size allow it to scale more efficiently, allowing it to remain a strong cryptography algorithm for many decades.
"The approach Intelligent Recognition Systems takes is highly beneficial to its clients. The team rounds out its expertise with best-in-class technologies, like the Certicom Security Architecture. By working with Certicom, Intelligent Recognition Systems can offer its clients a cost-effective, proven and standards-based system that meets specific government requirements," said Ian McKinnon, president and CEO at Certicom. "We expect to see more government suppliers adopt this approach and turn to Certicom as the security provider of choice."
Intelligent Recognition Systems licensed Security Builder® Crypto™, a software-based cryptographic provider that is part of the Certicom Security Architecture. The Certicom Security Architecture is a comprehensive, modular and portable solution designed to allow developers to quickly and cost-effectively embed security into applications, and across multiple families and generations of devices. A common application programming interface (API) unifies Certicom's modules to create a plug-and-play security architecture.
About Certicom
Certicom Corp. (TSX:CIC) is the authority for strong, efficient cryptography required by software vendors and device manufacturers to embed security in their products. Adopted by the U.S. government’s National Security Agency (NSA), Certicom technologies for Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) provide the most security per bit of any known public key scheme, making it ideal for constrained environments. Certicom products and services are currently licensed to more than 300 customers including Motorola, Oracle, Research In Motion, Terayon, Texas Instruments and Unisys. Founded in 1985, Certicom is headquartered in Mississauga, ON, Canada, with offices in Ottawa, ON; Reston, VA; San Mateo, CA; and London, England. Visit www.certicom.com.
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