GSA approves another PKI technology for bridge

The General Services Administration today approved another vendor’s public key infrastructure technology as technically compatible with the Federal Bridge Certification Authority, opening the door for more agencies to join the authority.The approval will let agencies apply to the Federal Bridge and make their digital certificates compatible with those of other agencies. The Drug Enforcement Agency, with UniCERT PKIs developed by Baltimore Technologies Inc. of Needham, Mass., is one such agency.DEA would still have to establish a security policy and mapping. It is using the company’s PKI certificates to issue prescriptions securely over the Internet, said Dean Coclin, director of federal sales for Baltimore Technologies. The National Security Agency’s Intelligence Community at Fort Meade, Md., also uses Baltimore Technologies’ PKI for its Intellink, a network on which various intelligence agencies share information.Mitretek Systems Inc., a nonprofit research organization in Falls Church. Va., ran the security and interoperability tests on Baltimore Technology’s PKI.