| From: | SCN User <bd042@***.ORG> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [skyk@fourgen.com: Informix Press Release] |
| Date: | Thu, 28 Sep 1995 22:48:43 -0700 |
From: skyk@*******.com (Sky Kruse)
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Subject: Informix Press Release
Date: Wed, 27 Sep
Since I imagine most of you don't read the informix newsgroups,
I don't know if you've seen this. But perhaps you should.
This is absolutely fascinating and will undoubtedly generate a
ton of conspiracy theory.
>HP ANNOUNCES ALLIANCE WITH GEMPLUS AND INFORMIX TO DELIVER
>PERSONAL INFORMATION CARDS FOR CONSUMERS
>
> U.S. Government Reviewing Industry-backed
> HP International Cryptography Framework
>
>
> PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 26, 1995 -- Hewlett-Packard
>Company, Gemplus and Informix today announced the formation of an
>alliance to develop a secure infrastructure that will enable
>corporations to speed new services to consumers via a
>credit-card-sized personal information card.
>
>
> These cards will carry several thousand times the amount of
>data carried by currently available smart cards. Additionally,
>the data on these cards will be fully encrypted for secure
>international communication, so the card will be able to be used
>anywhere in the world. HP believes that the U.S. government will
>authorize the export to commercial enterprises of products in
>Phase I(1) of HP's international cryptography framework standard
>-- one of the underlying technologies in the infrastructure that
>will enable the international use of personal information cards.
>The framework is based on HP's open cryptographic structure.
>
>
> Each member of the alliance will contribute key
>technologies:
>
> o HP -- server, encryption, middleware and networking
> technologies
>
> o Gemplus -- advanced smart-card technology
>
> o Informix -- database and middleware technologies
>
>
> Personal information cards, along with the international
>cryptography framework, will allow corporations to deliver
>services while still ensuring the privacy of each consumer's
>personal information. New business applications that could
>emerge once these technologies are available include the
>following:
>
> o secure communications between employees of a
> multinational corporation;
>
> o secure transactions on the Internet;
>
> o secure international transactions between credit-card
> and service providers; and
>
> o secure personal information that also is managed by the
> owner.
>
>
>Personal Information Card
>
> HP, Gemplus and Informix are adding unique elements to the
>personal information card that will make it easy for consumers to
>manage their own personal information. The personal data stored
>on the card may then be accessed by multiple service providers
>for such tasks as purchasing airline tickets and storing
>frequent-flyer-miles transactions in a consumer's personal
>database. Unlike single-transaction smart cards, consumers may
>use their card with multiple service providers.
>
>
> The personal information card will be more convenient than
>today's retail cards since all transactions are captured in the
>card, thus showing current balances in checking, frequent-user,
>savings, credit-card and other types of accounts. All
>transactions will automatically be posted to the correct place in
>the owner's personal accounting system. The information in the
>personal information card will be fully accessible and viewable
>by the card's owner, eliminating the need to call multiple firms
>or agencies to obtain or manage this information. All of this is
>accomplished with security that is controlled by the card owner.
>
>
>International Cryptography Framework
>
> Because current export restrictions limit the use of
>encryption technology for secure international communication,
>there is no common, secure IT infrastructure; this, in turn,
>severely limits international services and commerce. The
>framework will be incorporated into the alliance solution to
>address this concern. The U.S. government is currently reviewing
>HP's international-cryptography-framework technology to determine
>exportability. HP has requested export authorization to allow
>shipments by mid-1996 of two of the framework's Phase I elements
>-- providing non-user-accessible cryptography. U.S. government
>export approval will still be required for the framework elements
>that will activate the non-user-accessible technology. According
>to the U.S. government, HP's international cryptography framework
>is a promising concept that could work within export policy and
>provide needed commercial cryptography capabilities.
>
>
> Under government export authorization, HP plans to broaden
>the geographic markets for Phase I products. HP's open
>cryptographic structure will allow a more flexible range of
>cryptographic capabilities and new technologies to be
>incorporated into customers' applications without making obsolete
>their existing investment in security and cryptographic
>infrastructure. Export licenses will be needed only for the new
>technologies -- not for the framework's compliant products --
>thus saving customers time and money.
>
>
> The framework meets the needs of businesses, the Internet
>and governments for secure business transactions and messages.
>Businesses will be able to choose the appropriate cryptography
>solutions to meet their changing needs and still be in compliance
>with evolving government policies.
>
>
> "HP is revolutionizing worldwide commerce as part of an
>alliance that will leapfrog any announced product or service in
>the area of international commerce," said Richard W. Sevcik, HP
>vice president and general manager of the System Technology Group
>of the Computer Systems Organization. "HP's open cryptographic
>structure is another example of HP's leadership position in
>developing open-systems technologies for the users of computer
>technology."
>
>
> HP, Gemplus and Informix will demonstrate the
>personal-information-card solution in Geneva at Telecom '95. The
>demonstration will show how a single, interactive card can access
>multiple services -- today, such access requires a separate card
>from each service. The single card is more secure since it
>contains a tamperproof processor that fully encrypts all
>transactions to and from the card. In addition, the card could be
>used to store "electronic cash," thus eliminating the need to
>visit an automatic teller machine to get hard currency. The same
>card also could be used as a credit card, all at the consumer's
>discretion. All transactions, cash or credit, will automatically
>be posted to the correct place in the owner's personal accounting
>system. Many more uses are being planned for the personal
>information card.
>
>
> "Informix's experience in providing database technology in
>smart-card technology internationally has taught us that
>customers need a multipurpose card that is fast, cheap, flexible
>and easy to use," said Jeff Hudson, vice president of business
>development for Informix Software. "These personal information
>cards will allow service providers, such as financial
>institutions, telecommunications companies and airlines, to
>provide customers with individualized service -- all on one card.
>Informix's high-performance, scaleable database technology,
>Dynamic Scalable Architecture, is the only database that can
>manage the data requirements of this first-of-its-kind technology
>efficiently."
>
> Gemplus is the world leader in the plastic card industry, both
>conventional and smart cards with a yearly production capacity of
>850 million cards and an international presence in 19 countries.
>With production facilities and service bureau operations in the USA
>and in Europe, Gemplus has 1,200 jobs with a turnover of 1,084MF
>(million francs) at the end of 1994.
>
> Gemplus supplies more than 80 countries worldwide in
>applications such as information highways, multimedia, banking,
>electronic purse, loyality, telecommunications (payphone and GSM
>cards), pay TV, healthcare, transportation, vending, physical and
>logical access control, etc. Gemplus' key factor of success is
>its commitment to total quality, its ability to keep turning out
>new products, solutions and applications for every imaginable
>customer demand.
>
>
> Informix Software is the leading supplier of high
>performance, parallel processing database technology, for open
>systems. The company's database servers are the number one choice
>of computer hardware manufacturers for publishing Transaction
>Processing Council (TPC) benchmarks for UNIX-based systems.
>Informix products also include application development tools for
>creating client/server production application, decision support
>systems and ad-hoc query interfaces, and connectivity software
>that allows information to be shared transparently from PCs to
>mainframes within the corporate computing environment.
>The company's corporate headquarters is in Menlo Park,
>California. More information about Informix is available via the
>World Wide Web: hhtp://www.informix.com/.
>
>
> HP is the world's leading supplier of open, client/server
>systems and is the second-largest computer supplier in the United
>States, with computer revenue of $19.6 billion in its 1994 fiscal
>year. HP has been delivering PA-RISC(2)-based business computers
>since 1986 with high reliability, data integrity, data
>availability and systems availability.
>
>
> Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of
>computing, communications and measurement products and services
>recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 99,900
>employees and had revenue of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.
>--
>%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> William Daul Advanced Support INFORMIX SOFTWARE INC.
> 4100 Bohannon Dr. (415) 926-6488 - wk
> Menlo Park, CA. 94025 uunet!infmx!billd or billd@********.com
