Comtrust GM addresses Dubai Police Academy

According to Mr Julfar, the move towards a regional e-economy has created a number of security issues. 'In the past, business transactions were often face-to-face. Payments were made using cash or cheques and there was an emphasis on physical verification and security. Today, more financial transactions are taking place on the internet, meaning we face issues of confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation.

'In order to meet these challenges,' said Mr Julfar. 'It is imperative a regionally consistent approach is taken. This means a sharing of best practices, uniformity in regional legislation for e-transactions and an integration of effort by the various stakeholders.'

Mr Julfar cited Comtrusts efforts in these areas. 'We were the region's pioneer in online payments and secure access applications. We have also recently developed a fully integrated Public Key Infrastructure, which goes a long way to addressing these concerns.'

PKI is a system of digital certificates, data encryption, trusted third party certification and registration authorities that verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in an internet transaction.

According to Mr Julfar, Comtrust is already looking to further develop the application of PKI technology. The core of this development, he said, had been in smart card applications, designed to authenticate individuals and businesses.

Mr Julfar said such developments were in line with the company ethos of delivering unparalleled security. 'Security is something we take very seriously. We believe a unified approach to e-security is needed and our participation in this event reflects of that.'