Bull HN Information Systems has teamed up with PC Security of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, adding its CP8 Smart Card to personal computer protection software. Smart Cards have been used to define user access to minis and mainframes for some time, but Bull says that this is the first time its cards have been used in personal computer security. PC Security sell the StopLock range of security products – which have just been awarded a UKL1 certificate from CLEF, the association licensed by the UK Government Communications Electronics Security Group, to certify computer security products. UKL1 is the lowest of six levels of certification and corresponds to the US Orange Book standard C1. CP8 Authentic incorporates StopLock II with the CP8 Smart Card. StopLock II has all the usual features of software-based security products, such as automatic file encryption and audit trailing. It can also be used on local area networks. The CP8 Smart Card contains a microcontroller and stores the user profile, defining the user’s access rights on the card, rather than on the personal computer. This means greater flexibility, as users can access any personal computer for which he or she has authorisation, and of course the identification password for the card. Other systems rely on the computers to hold password data. If an unauthorised user tries to gain access it is the card that locks, not the computer, enabling other users to continue accessing it. Both Bull and PC Security are keen to stress the multi-purpose aspect of Smart Cards. PC Security has already installed a system where cards are used to get in to a building or several buildings, as well as computers, depending on the user profile on the card. Bull says there are now around 14m of its Smart Cards in use, the major application area being security, followed by healthcare and as a payment medium. There are no plans to integrate card readers onto Bull machines although security applications are recognised as area with great potential. CP8 Authentic is targeted at corporate users, and costs UKP360 for each user excluding the UKP9 for each Smart Card which is also the cost of replacing it, if you happen to lose it.
