The Federal Government has accredited Certificates Australia, a subsidiary of Baltimore Technology, as this country's first Gatekeeper compliant Certification Authority.
The accreditation makes Certificates Australia the only current company qualified to provide the government sector with cryptographic software, public key infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates. The accreditation puts certificates Australia in a strong position to provide electronic security services to the Federal Government, without any current competition.
In order attain 'Gatekeeper compliance', the company was required to satisfy a number of strict government requirements ensuring a high standard of security for its products and organisation. According to Baltimore's Asia Pacific Vice-President, John Palfreyman, satisfying the government's Gatekeeper compliance criteria was a demanding process.
"Baltimore had the vision and tenacity to pursue Government Public Key Authority (GPKA) accreditation and through significant investment and time we have achieved the goal of becoming the first GPKA accredited company in Australia. Baltimore is committed to the Gatekeeper strategy and will assist the GPKA to develop a competitive public key infrastructure market."
As a Government Public Key Authority, Certificates Australia will have the power to issue public keys for use in encrypting documents for transmission over the Internet. Palfreyman noted that the accreditation will provide the company with a valuable new market for its services.
"This accreditation will allow us to provide a full range of PKI services to government agencies in Australia, opening new market opportunities for us. Baltimore has always demonstrated its commitment to providing advanced PKI systems for both enterprise and e-commerce use, and as the only Gatekeeper accredited PKI provider at this time we are uniquely positioned to service the government market."
Announcing the accreditation, Senator Ian Campbell, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts said that the accreditation process would assist the government's plan to put all of its services online over the coming years.
"This is about using the benefits of information technology for Australians dealing with their Government," Campbell stated. "Public key technology will facilitate secure business and information transactions online by Government agencies using verifiable digital signatures. It will mean faster and safer business, savings for Government and better service to our clients and business partners."
The Australian Taxation office, the Office for Government Online and Centrelink are currently in discussions with Certificates Australia over planned uses for the technology.
