PKI vendors get together on government project

Government IT agencies have announced success in getting the products of disparate PKI (public key infrastructure) vendors to interoperate, removing one of the major barriers to increased adoption of the technology.

John Doody, head of information security for CESG (the IT arm of GCHQ), said trials conducted by the agency had persuaded the vendors to make their products work with each other.

Speaking at the InfoSec show in London, Doody said: "This trial is a world beater - the only government initiative of its kind in the world."

Doody said much of the cynicism over PKI security products was because it was seen as vendor specific.

Companies have been loathe to invest in PKI systems up until now because of concerns they might end up locked into a proprietary system which did not talk to the surrounding world, he said.

"PKI is essential for the growth of 'Digital Britain'. As a citizen I want assurance that cybercrime isn't going to happen to me if I do business with government on the web.

"We are sending out the message that businesses need no longer worry - the products are ready for deployment, and they will interoperate."

CESG completed the interoperability trial with 10 vendors, including Baltimore, Entrust, Novell and RSA Security.

Baltimore's CEO, Bijan Khezri, who was also at the InfoSec show, said: "What we have with the government is a true partnership, and this is an example of it."

Doody said the government's concerns had made the vendors work harder to ensure interoperability.

The trial was conducted in one week in January, and all problems were quickly resolved. Chris Ensor, who ran the trial at the CESG, said: "We locked all the vendors in a room for a week, closed the doors and windows, and I think we achieved a lot."