Cartes 2004- Thales today announced its capability to build the first integrated end-to-end advanced transaction authentication solution for businesses with complex middle office processing needs. As well as being the most thorough solution for tackling ‘card not present’ fraud and identity theft, SafeSign also offers considerable cost savings and ease of management for a smooth enterprise migration to the middle office.

SafeSign is the first integrated security infrastructure dedicated to the enterprise application middleware, accompanying the current drive for companies to migrate their business processes to the now mission-critical middle office and helping them realise massive cost savings by doing so. SafeSign can provide all the security services necessary to reinforce the transaction security and user authentication for all the applications running in this environment. This is regardless of the enterprise’s choices of end-user authentication technology – encrypted passwords, handheld tokens, EMV Smart cards or Public Key Infrastructure certificates.

The SafeSign family of products fulfils the tasks of authentication, identity management and strong PKI security on one single infrastructure. The SafeSign suite consists of the SafeSign Authentication Server – a multi-channel authentication platform; SafeSign Management Server – token and identity management from Intercede; SafeSign Crypto Module – a hardware security module for secure storage and use of cryptographic keys; SafeSign Personal Security Module – a highly flexible, highly secure end-user token.

‘Card not present’ fraud and identity theft are rapidly increasing. SafeSign tackles these problems by providing strong authentication for all transaction channels – such as mobile, Internet or phone – whatever the choice of authentication technology. SafeSign represents the ideal solution for companies willing to move away from weak identification and authentication technologies – like simple passwords – which have been at the centre of the dramatic rise in online fraud. It allows the enterprise to implement the stronger security offered by two factor authentication – i.e. not just a password but also a physical token such as a smart card or a handheld device.

To smooth the migration from weak and isolated to strong and consolidated authentication, SafeSign offers all the components to allow the enterprise to strengthen application security: consolidated multi-channel authentication middleware, real-time user and token management system, hardware devices for end-users and back office. In this sense, it is the UK’s first consolidated transaction authentication system.

By allowing organisations to centralise authentication and ID management into a single enterprise platform, the SafeSign proposition translates into massive IT savings as well as seamless, quick and easy management of multi-channel transaction security infrastructures. With its multi-token, multi-application authentication platform, SafeSign also allows customers to adapt the level of protection for each application and for each customer at any given time to the business requirements dictated by internal or external factors, such as internal risk management, customer profiling or legal operational requirements.

Uniquely, the architecture has the in-built capacity to not only manage a portfolio of authentication options but also the whole lifecycle of a user from registration to eventual key revocation. Thales designed the infrastructure to fully integrate each of the individual components of a company’s transaction authentication system without affecting the individual functions of each separate piece – which allows for greater software flexibility.

Paul Meadowcroft, head of transaction security of the e-Security activities of Thales, said: “With Internet fraud, ID theft and ‘card not present’ fraud on the rise, username and passwords do not provide strong enough protection. Blue chip corporations are transiting a delicate business phase where survival means they have to offer multi-business channels to meet customer demands. They also have to keep IT costs to a minimum and they need to be able to integrate new solutions into existing legacy systems that are easy and quick to deploy. It is a complicated order, however, and companies need to become as sophisticated in their processes as the criminals that steal from them. We believe that with SafeSign, Thales has created the ultimate transaction security solution. Early feedback from financial giants like BACS, one of our customers, indicates that our solutions are not only comprehensive, but they in fact lie at the very heart of such a system’s success.”

The full SafeSign solution will be demonstrated at Cartes 2004 on the Thales stand – 4 J 13.

About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion in 2003.

Operating in three main markets covering e-security, card payment and network security, Thales’ e-Security activities address the business, government and finance industries’ need for cryptographic security products and solutions. Over half of the world’s banks, together with the majority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology. For more than 20 years the company has been at the forefront of security and payment technology, co-operating and contributing to set the industry standards used for financial transactions and e-commerce globally. Thales e-Security activities offer a wide range of security solutions to protect Government and Defence critical information infrastructures, thereby positioning the company as a leading worldwide supplier of certified network security products.

Visit Thales at stand 4J13 during Cartes 2004.

Contact details for Thales

Claire Topping
Thales e-Security
+44 (0)1844 204156
claire.topping@thales-esecurity.com

Scott McLean
Hotwire
+44 (0) 20 7608 4643
scott.mclean@hotwirepr.com