ENTU Entrust (MM)

FRAC solutions provide emergency response officials with critical information in times of crisis DALLAS, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Facilitated by digital identities and public key infrastructure from Entrust, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTU), the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) and their First Responder Authentication Credential (FRAC) application successfully participated in the nationwide Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of National Capital Region Coordination (NCRC), "Spring Ahead" event this week. The Illinois Terrorism Task Force joined local, public, private, state and federal agencies and organizations in this multi-jurisdictional electronic validation demonstration leveraging Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201-compliant and FIPS 201-interoperable credentials. "The interoperability of seamlessly authenticating credentials from different local, state and federal agencies is a tremendous asset during times of unfortunate emergency or tragedy," said Entrust President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Conner. "Standards-based credentialing projects are critical to the safety and security of this country, and we're eager to see how Entrust PKI and digital certificates can help better prepare our states and country for unforeseen disasters or tragedy. Other states should look to the State of Illinois as an example of technology leadership and innovation." Although Spring Ahead featured eight separate scenarios throughout the week, the interoperability of the State of Illinois FRAC solution was on display during a three-hour session Thursday. The credentials of up to 25 emergency response officials and other individuals were authenticated as part of Illinois' participation in FEMA NCRC's nationwide demonstration. Fifteen were specific emergency response official credentials, but others included U.S. Department of Defense Common Access Cards (CAC) and basic state-issued driver's licenses -- all of which helped prove the program's interoperability to authenticate credentials from various agencies. More than 30 organizations, in 20 locations across the United States, simultaneously authenticated and uploaded digital certificates to a repository. Participants and observers viewed a Web-enabled mapping application that provided local, regional and national emergency operation centers with near-real-time situational awareness of on-scene personnel during simulated emergencies. This repository provides the capability to electronically validate emergency response officials' digital identities and attributes -- including qualifications, authorizations, certifications, or privileges -- to strengthen the decision-making process for granting access to the incident scene, and provide secure electronic manifests of those who respond. Including digital identities provided by PKI technology, the FRAC solution enables local, state and federal agencies to confidently make access decisions at any incident by quickly authenticating and validating -- via a smart credential and certified handheld credential reader -- the identities and roles of individuals wishing to enter or exit a secure or restricted area. Verified knowledge of roles, identities and privileges enables agencies to manage emergency response officials and allows incident command to adjust quickly to emergencies by distributing personnel where they're needed most. Entrust's First Responder Authentication Credential solution is FIPS 201-compatible and interoperable with numerous smart credentials issued by various government entities. Further interoperability comes through cross-certification with the U.S. Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) so credentials can be verified across federal, state and local agencies, and among jurisdictions. Entrust's hosted Non-Federal Shared Service Provider PKI solution is also cross-certified to the Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) and is appropriate for various non-Federal entities, organizations and agencies. This solution enables specific organizations to use digital certificates for authentications, encryption, digital signatures and physical and/or logical access, but without expensive upfront investments, in-house experts or secure facilities. The Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) is charged with the task of assuring that Illinois is ready to respond to an act of terrorism. Due to the commitment of the members of the Task Force and the ability of the associated agencies to come together in a spirit of cooperation and teamwork, Illinois has plans in place to deal with a terrorist attack in our state. About Entrust Entrust provides trusted solutions that secure digital identities and information for enterprises and governments in 2,000 organizations spanning 60 countries. Offering trusted security for less, Entrust solutions represent the right balance between affordability, expertise and service. These include SSL, strong authentication, fraud detection, digital certificates and PKI. For information, call 888-690-2424, e-mail or visit http://www.entrust.com/. Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited. All Entrust product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Entrust, Inc. or Entrust Limited. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060720/NYTH074LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Entrust, Inc. CONTACT: Brooke Hamilton, Media Relations of Entrust, Inc., +1-972-728-0415, Web Site: http://www.entrust.com/

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