Identity theft and the leakage of sensitive communications are at the root of cyber attacks worldwide.
The media is awash with stories of banks, governments, spy agencies and other businesses which have had to deal with cyber attacks and were left wanting when it came to how well they protected themselves.
In South Africa, for example, a bank discovered multiple security deficiencies during electronic transactions with clients.
The problem was found to be due to a lack of enough authentication controls which, in turn, compromised the security requirements of non-repudiation at both ends of the transaction.
The problem of online security against cyber attacks is further compounded by the cost of such products and the fact that sophisticated software is not easily available in the developing world which means there is often a shortage of affordable options.
A South African technology company, which has over a decade’s experience in the sector, saw a gap in the market and went about trying to find a solution.
The solution to the problem lay in a product called Trust Factory PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) which was developed by leading company, iSolv Technologies
“The security of any modern communications system relies heavily on the security and management of the cryptographic keys used for cryptographic operations within the system. Public-key infrastructure provides the mechanism to manage the cryptographic keys in a manner that is fully trusted and scalable, ” said Mr Jayesh Nana, CEO of iSolv Technologies
The company is known for introducing state-of-the-art products like Covert Ops and the surveillance and monitoring industry.
Some of you are already using the products and don’t even know it yet.
Mr Nana, said: “The product has been successfully used within several applications including the electronic signing of an Act into law by a President, the securing of voice and text communications on smartphone devices, the securing of transactions within a social grant payment application and the securing of web portals for many government departments and agencies.”
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a key management solution for public key cryptosystems that provide full key and credential life management.
He added that the scalability of the product is achieved through the use of asymmetric keys (a public and private key pair) that can only be cracked through solving a mathematically intractable factorization problem.
“Hence the name Trust + Factory”, said Mr Nana.
The product is designed to solve the problem of enabling two unrelated parties to exchange and secure sensitive information in a secure and trustworthy manner.
For example, transactions between banks and their clients.
How TrustFactory works is that it uses built-in fingerprint biometric and smart-card support.
This helps enable the product to identify management, offer cryptographic management as well as digital signatures in electronic communication environments.
This further enables TrustFactory to be able to provide the infrastructure to effectively manage the creation of certificate authorities (CAs) and the issuing of digital certificates.
“TrustFactory has been well received especially by our public sector customers and has been in use within South Africa for almost a decade now,” said Mr Nana
TrustFactory is especially beneficial because it has been developed to ensure maximum security in electronic communications.
This is done through digital and/ or encryption for any form of electronic communication including web sessions, voiceover-IP (VoIP) calls, electronic mail and electronic forms.
The product will minimise fraud because it offers successful identity authentication and it enhances privacy by reducing the risk of messages being read by unauthorised persons while the message moving from one user to the next.
TrustFactory also ensures the integrity of electronic communications by ensuring that the message is not tampered with without your knowledge while also making provision for non-repudiation of transactions in order for people to be unable to deny their involvement in a valid electronic transaction.
This is especially helpful should a matter end up in court because the authenticated information can be introduced as evidence in a court of law.
The product also has support for government and national smartcard identity initiatives.
He said that iSolv Technologies is committed to on-going innovation with TrustFactory and plans to provide a cloud-based PKI solution offering in the future.
