UAE uptake of PKI-based solutions surges

"Compared to the first six months of 2002, the first half of this year has seen a five fold increase in Comtrust's PKI business," said Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, General Manager, Comtrust.

"We have seen a surge in the number of organizations investigating the possibilities PKI offers their particular business model. Enterprises understand that the Internet can deliver a variety of business benefits, but the potential cannot be fully exploited without effectively addressing Internet security issues."

According to Comtrust, great strides had been made in securing an organization's infrastructure from external security threats except in one key area. "For businesses wishing to utilize the online medium issues of authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation of online communication were unresolved. PKI was created to solve this dilemma," explained Julfar.

"With these issues resolved, organizations are able to utilize the Net safely, speedily, securely and confidentially communicate with their customers, contractors, suppliers and business partners."

Comtrust says the greatest growth has come from the government and banking & finance sectors, though many other organizations, which regularly communicate within a large business community, are also taking up the technology.

"Resolving the question of online authentication has been paramount to the UAE banking industry. The same can be said for other major industry sectors in the country that have initiated e-business initiatives. Through PKI, these entities have been able to deliver secure, authenticated communication conduits to their customers," explained Julfar.

Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI, is the globally recognized, industry standard protocol for verifying virtual identities. Based on 128-bit encryption technologies, PKI is designed to ensure online communications that can only be viewed by those it is intended for. Moreover, the identities of these parties are independently authenticated before access is granted.

In its capacity as the National CA (Certificate Authority) for the UAE, Comtrust regulates the distribution and use of digital certificates in the country. Part of Comtrust's role as CA is the vetting and issuing of digital certificates to users. Comtrust says it has seen a surge in the demand for digital certificates with more organizations than ever before using digital certificates in the emirates. "In terms of UAE certificate usage, as of July this year we have seen a 452% increase in the no of active user certificates and 187% increase in active server certificates," said Julfar.

Comtrust believes all the factors are in place for continued growth in the demand for PKI services. With the Internet usage on the increase across the Middle East coupled with the geographic dispersion of the regional market, PKI enables businesses to leverage the most cost effective communication tool available - the Internet. According to Julfar, Comtrust's PKI business is set to parallel this growth.

"At the end of the day, the Internet is more cost effective than the phone or fax; it is certainly quicker than a courier service. With PKI solving the riddle of online authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation, the Internet becomes a key business communication tool. It makes absolute business sense to take advantage of it," concluded Julfar.