Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Alacris, Gemplus partnership to produce turnkey smart card solution for Windows

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Canadian firm Alacris has joined with Luxembourg-based Gemplus in a move to integrate a smart card with certificate management technology for enterprise Windows environments. The combined product will mean a smart card solution that not only brings additional security to Windows networking but also reduces the life-cycle management costs of supporting smart card and public key infrastructure deployments.


Technology partnership and interoperability of product offerings increase client’s choice for best-of-breed authentication and identity assurance solutions

OTTAWA, (Sept. 13) PRNewswire-Alacris(R) Inc., a developer of certificate management and identity assurance software products, today announced a technology partnership with Gemplus International S.A., one of the world’s leading providers of smart card solutions, that offers customers a powerful turnkey smart card and certificate management solution for enterprise Windows environments.

The technology partnership integrates Gemplus’s GemSAFE smart cards with idNexus(TM) for Microsoft, Alacris’ flagship product that provides integrated management of digital certificate and smart card technologies. The combined product offerings provide a robust smart card solution that not only brings additional security and convenience to the Windows networking environment, but also reduces the life-cycle management costs of supporting integrated smart card and public key infrastructure (PKI) deployments.

“We are pleased to be working with such a leading player in the smart card industry,” said Conrad Bayer, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Alacris. “Extending our idNexus product to support Gemplus’s GemSAFE smart cards reinforces our strategy of delivering best-of-breed authentication and identity assurance solutions to enterprise Windows clients.”

“The combination of Alacris’ idNexus and Gemplus’s GemSAFE smart card product offerings provides a robust identity assurance management system that enables customers to cost effectively deploy digital certificates and smart card-based identity solutions,” said Dave Ludin, Vice President of Gemplus’s ID & Security business unit in North America. “We are excited about the opportunities this technology alliance with Alacris presents for our customers.”

The Alacris idNexus for Microsoft product simplifies digital certificate and smart card deployment specifically for enterprise environments using Windows 2003 Certificate Services, Active Directory (AD) and Internet Information Services (IIS).

About Alacris Alacris Inc. is a developer of certificate management and identity assurance software products including idNexus, a certificate and smart card management product for the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Certificate Authority (CA) and the Entrust CA. Alacris has also developed the Alacris Identity Validation (OCSP) product that provides real-time certificate status information. Global industry leaders in industries such as Pharmaceutical, Health Care, Financial Services and Government have implemented Alacris products. For more information about Alacris, please visit our web site at www.alacris.com.

Alacris is a registered trademark of Alacris Inc. All other products, logos or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

About Gemplus Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world’s leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest (2003); Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.) It has the largest R&D team, unrivaled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

Gemplus offers an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people’s lives. These include Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Identity, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, access control, and a wealth of other applications. Gemplus’s revenue in 2003 was 749 million Euros. www.gemplus.com [end] 

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