Thales has today announced the release of its new MiniCita™ workstation version V5, which can be incorporated into identity management infrastructures to allow companies to fully manage and control user rights for access to company resources. Identity management infrastructures allow companies to manage user rights to access company resources. These rights are generally centralised in the company directory, and their security component is managed by Public Key Infrastructures (PKI). The MiniCita™ workstation security solution accurately fits into existing company infrastructures to provide improved access management.

The MiniCita™ series is a modular line of terminal security solutions that meets needs in local or shared data protection, unique authentication, and remote access. MiniCita™ allows on-the-fly encryption of files stored on the hard drive partitions of laptop computers, creating a strong-box for data.

The new features of MiniCita™ version V5 allow users to combine its security mechanisms with X.509 certificates and LDAP v3 directories. The asymmetrical keys and the certificates used by the MiniCita™ system are delivered by the PKI deployed by the organisation (the PKI initialises a smart card or a token containing the private keys and the certificates).

Customers can also add control of access to workstations on to their existing infrastructure, allowing them to harmonise key and rights processing and to streamline smart card and token management processes.

MiniCita™ is available in a standalone version for self-employed workers and in a remotely administered version for centralised organisations. For companies that have not deployed this type of infrastructure, the MiniCita™ system also works without PKI. In this case, the keys and certificates are managed by the Centralised Administration or by the user station.

"The integration of MiniCita™ with companies' existing identity management infrastructures meets a strong demand from our customers, who seek to standardise management of information system access rights, and therefore pool their certification tools," explains Luc Fonda, Sales Manager of the e-Security business at Thales.

About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving Defence, Aerospace, Security and Services markets. The group employs 61,500 people and generated revenues of 10.3 billion euros in 2004.

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.

Press contacts:
Claire Topping
Thales
+44 (0)1844 204156
claire.topping@thales-esecurity.com

Sharon Brennan
Hotwire
+44 (0) 20 7608 4628
sharon.brennan@hotwirepr.com

Kenneth McGilvary
Hotwire
+44 (0) 20 7608 4633
kenneth.mcgilvary@hotwirepr.com