Entrust National ID Solution Selected by United Arab Emirates to Enhance Security of all Citizens, Expatriates

DALLAS, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Entrust chosen for proven global leadership in delivering national IDs, ePassports with PKI technology

Strengthening its position as a global leader of national ID and ePassport (http://www.entrust.com/government/e-passport.htm) security, Entrust, Inc. (http://www.entrust.com) will provide proven, PKI-based (http://www.entrust.com/pki/index.htm) national ID (http://www.entrust.com/government/citizen-id.htm) technology to the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates Identity Authority is leading a citizen-centric initiative to provide smart national ID cards for citizens and expatriates that will help enhance the stability and safety of the people and government of the UAE.

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The program, led by Emirates Identity Authority Director General Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, is adopting advanced PKI technology to position the UAE ID program with the most advanced in the world. By employing the latest visual and biometric security features and embedded PKI technology, the ID cards will validate the identity of each individual and provide strong authentication to applications. Entrust, the global leader in PKI technology, was the natural choice to establish trust architecture based on international standards.

"We selected Entrust because of its international recognition and proven reputation as the most trusted identity provider in the marketplace," said Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri. "This will now allow us to build a trusted backbone for the integration of the national ID program with other eGovernment services."

With the majority of citizens already registered for cards, this marks the next phase of the Identity Authority's program to integrate the nation's IDs for secure access to online government services. All citizens are required to register for a card by the end of June 2011.

"We are very proud to have been chosen to bring our global PKI leadership and experience to support the next phase of the UAE ID program," said Entrust President and CEO Bill Conner (http://www.entrust.com/corporate/management/bill_conner.htm). "This announcement builds on our significant presence and leadership - in the Middle East and around the globe - for national ID programs and ePassport deployments. Entrust looks forward to working with Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri and the United Arab Emirates to deliver the security, enablement and return on investment for this project."

Entrust has been a trusted advisor to many countries as they pursue ePassport and national ID projects. The technology is currently in production use in a number of countries issuing a high volume of ePassports, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore, Denmark, Ireland, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, New Zealand and Finland. In fact, more than 50 percent of first- and second-generation ePassports deployed globally are secure by Entrust.

Entrust Authority Security Manager, a world-leading PKI, manages the digital keys and certificates that make up the digital identities used to transparently automate security-related processes in an organization. As an organization's certification authority system, the platform can help enable the use of digital signature, digital receipt, encryption and permissions management services across a wide variety of applications and solutions.

Emirates Identity Authority's (EIDA) project includes the establishment of a modern population register in order to facilitate the obtainment of government services as well as to provide the required information for supporting decision-making, strategic planning and the allocation of sources in all vital sectors in the UAE. Through this project, EIDA is also responsible for the issuance of electronic identity cards for the whole population in the country - nationals and residents - in order to verify and confirm the identity of each individual through the personal number and the smartcard related to the biological features of the individual.

By adopting cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology in its business, Emirates Identity Authority is keen to play a distinctive and active role in the sustainable development and economical growth of the country. This will be achieved through this nationwide and accurate population register that supports the government in its strategic planning, which will contribute in elevating the UAE to its well-deserved position amongst the advanced countries in the world.

About Entrust

A trusted provider of identity-based security solutions, Entrust empowers enterprises, governments, financial institutions, citizens and websites in more than 4,000 organizations spanning 60 countries. Entrust's customer-centric focus is the foundation to delivering organizations an unmatched level of security, trust and value. For strong authentication, credentialing, physical and logical access, mobile security, digital certificates, SSL and PKI, call 888-690-2424, email entrust@entrust.com or visit www.entrust.com. Let's talk.

Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited. All Entrust product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Entrust, Inc. or Entrust Limited. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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    BILL CONNER
    http://www.profnetconnect.com/bill_conner

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