New Delhi : The Satyam group-promoted security software firm, SafeScrypt is forming a consortium of companies interested in digital signature operations.Safescrypt is also willing to offer equity to its partners in the business.When contacted the president of SafeScrypt, Mr Atul Saran, confirmed the move and said, "Safescrypt is developing itself as an industry platform with participation invited from leading banks, financial institutions, ISPs and service providers. However, it is still being discussed in which form the companies should be brought together." However, Mr Saran did not rule out the possibility of offering minority stakes to the partner companies in consortium.SafeScrypt is setting up a public key infrastructure (PKI) in technical partnership of Verisign, a leading digital signature company in the US. The facilities once operational will be able to host digital signature applications for certifying authorities.
Explaining the move, Mr Saran said that SafeScrypt has been formed as a separate company by Satyam group to give it an independent and neutral identity for wider acceptance in the industry. "Its main purpose will be to deliver outsourced managed Certifying Authority (CA) services to those banks, financial institutions and corporates wishing to be CAs. This means that Safescrypt will work as an Application Service Provider (ASP) in digital signature space. Mr Saran claimed that the size and technology of the infrastructure is as good as the facilities run by Verisign, US.
When asked whether Verisign will also pick up equity in the company, Mr Saran said that Verisign is also expected to pick up a small strategic stake in SafeScrypt at a later stage. "Verisign follows a uniform policy for its affiliate across the world. It will pick up equity only after the company will become operational," he added.
Mr Saran said that the infrastructure is almost ready and by the end of next month, SafeScrypt will be ready to offer its services to its members. When asked about investments, Mr saran said that a digital infrastructure of this kind needs around $7-$10 million. He refused to give further details on investments.
Safescrypt will also apply to become the Certification Authority once the formal applications are invited by the Government, said Mr Saran.Safescrypt is a principal Trust Affiliate of Verisign for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. The technology that SafeScrypt offers is known as Public Key Infrastructure or PKI. The elements that comprise PKI are digital certificates and digital signatures. These are electronic credentials that uniquely identify an entity or a person on the Internet.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
