With these vital functions incorporated, enterprises gain a competitive edge from extended offerings and greater customer confidence. A groundswell in favor of this solution includes government ID programs in the U.S., Spain, Finland and the Netherlands. European banks are early adopters in their fight against credit card fraud, while smart Visa and Amex Blue show growing interest in North America. Microsoft has chipped in with Windows 2000, featuring Windows for Smart Cards, and many keyboard manufacturers are integrating smart-card readers. Health care leads the charge with a projected 140 million smart cards in use in the U.S. by 2003.
Digital identities are critical.
Corporate e-business security requires knowing who you communicate with, and who accesses your network employees, customers, partners or anyone else. PKI employs digital certificates to validate user identities and enable digital signing of transactions for non-repudiation in B2B and consumer dealings. Companies recognize the advantages of e-business security. However, the effectiveness of PKI is limited to the security of digital certificates, which are usually secured with passwords and stored on hard drives, where they are vulnerable to abuse. When stored on secure, removable smart cards, certificates become inaccessible to anyone but their rightful owners.