Thales today announced that SafeSign, a single platform solution that enables digital authentication of users and transactions, has won The Banker Technology Award for its work with BankID, a Swedish service that offers secure electronic identification and signature on the Internet. The Award in the ‘ fraudulent action and ID theft prevention in the retail industry’ category recognises Thales’ work in combating digital fraud.
BankID is a digital identity IT infrastructure that is currently run by nine Swedish banks allowing members of the public to authenticate themselves to government authorities, banks and organisations remotely over the Internet, thereby decreasing the opportunity for digital fraud. Users can also electronically sign legally binding documents. At present more than 100 web services use BankID.
Launched in 2003, Sweden currently has around 700,000 BankID users, representing more than 10% of the population aged between 18-75, actively using their BankID digital identities. This figure is expected to grow to one million by the end of 2006 with a current growth rate exceeding 100% per annum.
Johan Eriksson, CEO Finansiell ID-Teknik, the company that owns BankID, commented, “We recognised that the increase in electronic document exchange required a service for authenticating identities and electronic signatures. Thales SafeSign met all the criteria in terms of the usability, scalability and flexibility required from a digital identity validation platform. The project has been such a huge success, in terms of user acceptance and increased security, that we hope to soon extend the network beyond Sweden .”
Paul Meadowcroft, head of transaction security at Thales e-Security, added, “Winning The Banker Technology Award highlights how our technology is at the cutting-edge with the ability to authenticate a wide variety of identification methods, such as one-time passwords, digital signatures, mobile messaging and biometrics. The further the BankID network stretches, the more useful the authentication service will become – emphasising the critical requirement for a flexible platform withinthe BankID infrastructure. As the public increasingly turn to the Internet to conduct their personal affairs, digital identity verification is becoming a critical capability for many banks, government departments and corporations.”
BankID users employ a range of smart card or software-based certificates, issued by different authorities, to authenticate users and their transactions. The security of the system relies on the identification of customers by the banks in Sweden . When joining a new bank, the customer is required to present themselves at the bank or Post Office with photographic proof of identity, such as a driving licence. Based on this established identity, they can request an “e-identity”. The customer then logs on to the current internet bank site which results in a secure generation of cryptographic keys and issuance of a digital certificate by the bank under the BankID PKI.
The digital certificate is subsequently used as an electronic proof of identity for internet-based transactions ranging from tax declaration to accessing social security services and health services as well as the full range of online banking services.
About Thales SafeSign
SafeSign provides customers with a single, central authentication platform with the ability to authenticate users with different security and authentication requirements, ensuring that the most appropriate level of security is applied to their transactions. SafeSign can authenticate users and transactions regardless of channel and for a range of identity solutions, including PKI certificates, smart cards, USB tokens, handheld tokens, SMS messaging and biometrics.
About Thales
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, serving defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide, supported by a comprehensive services offering. The group’s civil and military businesses develop in parallel to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. Leveraging a global network of high-level researchers, Thales offers a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy critical information systems. Thales employs 60,000 people in 50 countries and generated revenues of € 10.3 billion in 2005, with a record order book of over € 20 billion.
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 25 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.
About BankID
BankID is a joint bank IT-infrastructure for electronic identification and electronic signature over the Internet that is based on the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) technical standard. The BankID network includes Svenska Handelsbanken, FöreningsSparbanken, SkandiaBanken, Danske Bank, Ikanobanken, Sparbanken Finn, Sparbanken Gripen, Länsförsäkringar Bank and SEB. BankID is available to any bank that has a customer-identification process that guarantees the customer’s identity. Using BankID, members of the public can identify themselves to government authorities, companies and organizations and even electronically sign documents. Government authorities, companies and organizations can check the identification and electronic signature using certified software.
Contacts
Sarah Milligan
Thales
+44 (0) 1844 204181
sarah.milligan@thales-esecurity.com
Kenneth Tessem
COO, Finansiell ID-Teknik
+46 8 411 81 50
kenneth.tessem@bankid.com
