Palo Alto, California and Helsinki, Finland -
February 13, 2001
Interoperability of Certificate Management opens new markets for PKI
SSH Communications Security Corp., Baltimore Technologies, IBM, Entrust, RSA, and some other PKI Forum members have announced first results of interoperability testing based on Certificate Management Protocol version 2 (CMPv2). During the nine month testing time the members have resolved interoperability issues surrounding the implementation of CMPv2 specifications. The successful testing encourages the PKI Forum to start testing programs for other standard certificate management protocols in common use in the PKI industry. The testing included several virtual workshops over the Internet to test the specifications that establish the baseline for mandatory CMP functions, such as the issuance, revision, and revocation of digital certificates involving multiple Certification Authorities (CAs). The companies engaged with the testing achieved the desired result, i.e. interoperability between the members' products. SSH supports the issuing of certificates with its SSH Certifier software, and the applying of certificates with its SSH Sentinel and SSH Certificate Toolkit softwares.
CMP is a complex protocol, which enables the automation of Certificate Lifecycle Management within the PKI infrastructure in the multi-vendor environment. Functions such as registration, updating and revocation require interoperability between the applications of the Certificate Authority (CA) and the end user. By specifying how this interaction and communication between the parties happens, creates the basis for the public key infrastructure operations.
According to the representative of the PKI Forum, the multi-vendor interoperability will ease the deployment of PKI because organisations will have more confidence in their purchase decision if they have the freedom to select from a range of interoperable products from multiple suppliers.
"One of the motivations behind joining this alliance was the chance to join the Technical Working Group at the PKI Forum," said Tatu Ylönen, Chairman and CTO of SSH. "Interoperability is an important factor for all the members because it enables us to make our useful technology available for users."
CMP is a complex protocol, which enables the automation of Certificate Lifecycle Management within the PKI infrastructure in the multi-vendor environment. Functions such as registration, updating and revocation require interoperability between the applications of the Certificate Authority (CA) and the end user. By specifying how this interaction and communication between the parties happens, creates the basis for the public key infrastructure operations.
According to the representative of the PKI Forum, the multi-vendor interoperability will ease the deployment of PKI because organisations will have more confidence in their purchase decision if they have the freedom to select from a range of interoperable products from multiple suppliers.
"One of the motivations behind joining this alliance was the chance to join the Technical Working Group at the PKI Forum," said Tatu Ylönen, Chairman and CTO of SSH. "Interoperability is an important factor for all the members because it enables us to make our useful technology available for users."
SSH Corp. Contact
George Adams
SSH Communications Security Corp.
Tel: +1 781 247 2100
E-mail: 
Americas Contact
Byron Rashed
SSH Communications Security, Inc.
Tel: +1 650 251 2721
E-mail: 
Europe Contact
Bo Sorensen
SSH Communications Security Corp.
Tel: +358 20 500 7404
E-mail: 
Investor Relations
Mika Peuranen
SSH Communications Security Corp.
Tel: +358 20 500 7419
E-mail: 
U.S. Agency Contact
Cheryl Seaberg
Walt & Company
Tel: +1 408 496 0900 x 2981
E-mail: 
© 2002 SSH Communications Security Corp. All rights reserved. ssh® is a registered trademark of SSH Communications Security Corp in the United States and in certain other jurisdictions. All other names and marks are property of their respective owners.