SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Thawte Certification today
announced that its worldwide Web of Trust now spans 29 countries and includes
more than 1000 Notaries. The Web of Trust is the first free, global, trusted
personal certificate system that can be used for secure email with Netscape
and Microsoft mail clients.
The Web of Trust (WoT) is unusual in that it is the world's first "bottom
up" X.509 Certificate Authority for personal identity validation. The Web of
Trust is similar to the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) trust model, but uses
standard X.509 certificates that are immediately recognized by and
interoperable with off-the-shelf mail clients.
There are currently 800 "Web of Trust Notaries" in countries as far afield
as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, The United Kingdom, Germany,
France and the United States. New users can find a nearby Notary who can
attest to their identity. The member can then include his or her full name in
any Thawte certificates. Once enough Notaries have certified the identity of
the new member that member can become a Notary.
Thawte employees have over the past few months been traveling the globe to
establish core groups of Notaries in as many cities as possible. "There has
been fantastic ground swell support for the Web of Trust, particularly for
individuals wishing to send secure email using standard off-the-shelf email
clients," said Bruce Watermeyer, product manager for the WoT. "It allows
people to have trusted identities inserted into multiple certificates with
multiple email addresses, free of charge. This along with PGP support has made
the WoT extremely popular, especially with the high-tech community."
"The WoT offers name authentication, non repudiation, confidentiality and
entry to a global trust community to personal certificate users. A digital
certificate service which allows people to secure their email that has not,
until now, been available to individuals outside of a corporate community,"
says Mark Shuttleworth, CEO and President of Thawte.
About the Web of Trust
The Thawte WoT has a unique trust distribution model that works through a
point system. Once an individual has 50 trust points they can have their
trusted identity embedded in their certificate, and once they have 100 points
they reach Notary Status, which allows them to issue trust points to other
people. The issuing of trust points requires a face-to-face meeting and a
sworn assertion about another's identity based on standard photo identity
documentation.
About Thawte
Thawte Certification is a leading provider of trusted digital certificates
for SSL web servers, code signing and secure email. Thawte is the fastest
growing Certificate Authority in the world. In 1999 Thawte obtained a license
to issue 128 bit strong encryption certificates and launched the Enterprise
PKI service. Thawte also announced support for IPSEC certificates and 3 new
Chained CA Program customers. Thawte has offices in both South Africa and the
United States and representatives in over 22 countries.
Visit Thawte online at http://www.thawte.com .
SOURCE Thawte Certification
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Related links:
http://www.thawte.com
CONTACT:
Jenni Fair of Thawte Certification,
Jennif@thawte.com
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