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08:23 25Apr2005 PRN-Encryption and Smart Card Technology Leaders Develop

Encryption and Smart Card Technology Leaders Develop Identifier-Based
Encryption for Portable Formats
HP Labs, Incard, and STMicroelectronics demonstrate feasibility and
practicality of Identifier-Based Encryption on smart cards at Infosecurity
2005
BRISTOL, England and GENEVA, and NAPLES, Italy, April 25 /PRNewswire-
FirstCall/ -- Researchers from HP Laboratories and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:
STM) have collaborated with card manufacturer Incard to develop technology for
the implementation of Identifier-Based Encryption (IBE) on smart cards. A
demonstration of this technology will be presented on the Hewlett-Packard
booth at "Infosecurity 2005" from April 26-28, 2005, in London.
Smart cards are not only powerful and convenient; they are proven as
outstanding carriers for confidential information such as private keys. By
implementing IBE on a smart card, developers can create more practical and
cost-effective online and offline secure business communication applications.
Applications for the technology are in the areas of e-government, e- and
m-commerce, wireless management of secure documents, access control, and
personal-authorization tokens.
IBE has certain advantages over public-key infrastructure (PKI) security
schemes. In classical PKI schemes, the public key is a randomly calculated
number that has to be linked to the identity of the user by a certificate.
With IBE the public key can be chosen freely and can be linked directly to the
user's identity or role without the need to exchange certificates and the
costly infrastructure that comes with it.
The three partners have implemented IBE on a smart card by using elliptic-
curve pairing functions, which are important cryptographic primitives. IBE
uses bilinear mapping on elliptic curves to obtain an algorithm that can be
used to turn a simple, well recognized identity or role into a public/private
key pair. This role-based encryption allows for one party in the communication
(e.g. the receiver) to dynamically change the link between the identity and
the role of the user without impacting the other party (e.g. the sender).
HP Labs Bristol has one of the world's leading research groups in IBE,
which has the advantage of being more easily scalable than other PKI
technologies. As a result it has numerous possible applications, including
smart card security.
The algorithmic calculations were developed by HP Labs and ST and
implemented by Incard R&D on JsEC, an Incard smart card JavaCard 2.2.1
platform, based on ST's ST22L128 chip. JsEC decrypts an IBE message in a few
seconds. Incard has already integrated a JsEC smart card into a software
application to show how IBE can complement the security offering of PKI
schemes in business applications and environments.
"HP Labs has been investigating IBE cryptography for some years and are
impressed with its potential," said Keith Harrison, senior cryptographic
researcher at HP Labs Bristol. "We are developing a number of applications,
including a new HP ProtectTools security product, which would be difficult to
implement with alternate forms of public-key cryptography. Working with our
colleagues at STMicroelectronics on this prototype smart card solution has
emphasized the complementary strengths of both research groups."
"Incard's eSecurity product 'JsEC' aims to conquer a highly specialized
market that is expected to expand quickly," said Alessandro Scognamiglio,
Incard's Strategic Marketing Manager. "JsEC is the right solution to guarantee
secure Internet transactions and communications. It clearly and easily manages
different operations such as authentications, certifications, e-signatures,
and other functions able to guarantee net and local security. Through a
dynamic integration with the Windows operating system, JsEC enables the user
to provide their signature and authenticate themselves simply by clicking the
mouse."
"STMicroelectronics has a long history of devoting enormous efforts to its
R&D to ensure that new technologies can be exploited in commercial products as
quickly as possible; this cooperation between HPLabs and ST researchers is an
excellent example of that tradition," said Alessandro Cremonesi, Vice
President, Advanced System Technology, STMicroelectronics. "ST believes that
making security implementations that are significantly cheaper, faster, more
convenient, and more reliable is absolutely vital to meet the needs of the
market. Additionally, this implementation by Incard, based on ST's advanced
and innovative ST22 SmartJ(TM) silicon platform, demonstrates that the 32-bit
ST22 range of smart card ICs provides a perfect medium to carry any encryption
algorithms."
About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and
institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global
services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four
fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $81.8 billion. More
information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
About Incard
Incard, a member of the STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) group, is one of
the world's leading smart card manufacturers and offers a complete range of
products for Telecommunications, Payment, Transport, Healthcare, Loyalty and
Identity markets.
Thanks to its know-how and proven expertise, Incard has gained the trust
of a global customer base in the different sectors of Smart Card solutions
with a full range of flexible products, where security and portability are the
key factors. Incard is currently present all around the world with 4
manufacturing sites, 15 sales offices, 3 Research & Development centers.
Further information on Incard can be found at http://www.incard.it/ .
About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering
semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications.
An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing
strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners
positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and
its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The
Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris
and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were
$8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST
can be found at http://www.st.com.
SOURCE STMicroelectronics