Entrust Technologies Inc this week strengthened its commitment to Microsoft Corp’s platform with the launch of new security products designed specifically for Windows 98 and NT operating systems. The Plano, Texas based PKI company said its Entrust SignOn software is designed to provide single-user sign on for Windows 98 and NT platforms. Rather than enter a password to get onto the network and then enter numerous others to access the web, secure mail systems or encrypted files, Entrust’s software lets users enter just one password, which then gives them access to the network and any PKI-based applications. So once you’re on and verified, any applications that use certificates are available to you without having to sign on again and again, said Tom Brubaker, Entrust’s business development manager. Brubaker said the software would be included in the next major release of its encryption software, Entrust 5.0, which is currently in beta and due to be rolled out later this year.
In addition, the company introduced Entrust Unity for NT. The software is designed for companies which already use Entrust’s PKI software internally but who want to extend its use to any off-the-shelf product that supports Microsoft’s security framework, such as Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, enabling them to use their Entrust profiles for secure browsing and S/MIME email exchange. As well as rolling out new products, Entrust also announced it has been certified as a Microsoft Security Partner. As such, it will work to provide customers with tighter integration between its PKI product solutions and the Microsoft Windows NT security architecture.
Brubaker said Entrust had decided to develop the products when it realized that approximately 50% of its customers were using some iteration of NT in the back end to run their security solutions. This is a clear marketing message, said Brubaker, up till now, our relationship with Microsoft has been on the product development side, now we’re delivering a core group of products that natively support the NT architecture.
