05/06/2008

Exostar, the leading provider of secure multi-enterprise collaboration solutions to the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry, today launched its Federated Identity Service (FIS) for medium level of assurance software credentials. It gives organizations the ability to issue digital credentials to employees, suppliers and partners faster, with less risk and lower costs.

ebizQ received the following:

Exostar released the original version of FIS in 2007 for hardware-based digital credentials as part of the Commonwealth of Virginia's First Responder Authentication Credential (FRAC) Pilot Program, working with Johnson Controls, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Electronic Data Systems Corporation. The new FIS software-based credentials have a broader market appeal, supporting applications for secure e-mail, information access control and digital signatures.

FIS directly meets new standards of care related to online digital identities for industry and government stakeholders who require a high degree of confidence that someone is who they say they are. Simple username/password-based authentication frameworks are no longer adequate to protect commercially sensitive or government regulated information. This new service delivers digital certificates with higher quality and strength – based on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) – without the significant expense and technical expertise required to build and manage this capability in-house.

Through a scalable subscription model, Exostar supports the issuance and complete lifecycle management of medium level of assurance (MLOA) software credentials to end-users. FIS credentials are based on leading industry standards used across the aerospace, defense and air transportation communities, creating interoperability across the extended value chain. Exostar works closely with CertiPath and the Transglobal Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP) to ensure its service complies with evolving best practices and standards.

"Exostar is making it much easier to achieve the higher levels of security needed for secure information sharing as being defined by the industry," said Vijay Takanti, Exostar vice president for security and collaboration solutions. "Exostar’s Federated Identity Service enables organizations to deliver faster, cost-effective secure collaboration solutions, knowing with a high degree of assurance who is accessing their information."

Business Impact of Stronger PKI Credentials

FIS accelerates the acceptance and deployment of higher value PKI credentials to enable the following business benefits:

• Reduced Carbon Footprint by digitizing paper-based, manual processes and approvals



• Protected E-mail Communications with digital signatures reducing risks associated with phishing



• Greater Compliance related to sensitive data (ITAR, employee data, company confidential, etc.) through encryption and audit trails



• Improved Access Control to company information with secure log-in to web portals and enterprise applications

Exostar's FIS eliminates the burden on IT resources, making it easy for large organizations to deploy and manage certificates on an enterprise-wide scale, and for smaller suppliers without credentialing expertise to serve increasingly demanding customers. Customers only pay for what they use based on the number of users. All required hardware, software, upgrades, backup systems and customer support activities are bundled in the service fee. It seamlessly interoperates across intranets, extranets and VPNs.

With a full suite of hosted identity assurance and supply chain solutions, Exostar works with more than 85 of the top 100 aerospace and defense (A&D) companies to help them ensure that their intellectual property is safe in a multi-enterprise collaborative environment.