ACS DIST

The 1998 Information Industry Outlook Conference

8:30am - 5:00pm Saturday 7 November 1998 - Canberra
Hosted by the ACS Canberra Branch, In Cooperation with DIST

Current Issues in the rollout of a National Authentication Framework"

Stephen Wilson

Stephen Wilson

Senior Manager, KPMG Certification Authority

E-mail: sgw@kpmg.com.au

Draft Paper Now Available

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the success of e-commerce, especially cross border ransactions, depends on a trusted, open authentication framework, for without authentication, nobody can be sure of who or what they are dealing with over the networks. There is broad agreement amongst standards bodies and IT vendors that "public key" technology (PKT) provides the best solution. A number of parties in Australia have been working to realise such a framework, including the Commonwealth Attorney General, NOIE, OGIT and Standards Australia. In the meantime, several commercial Certification Authorities (CAs) have set up shop offering authentication services for a variety of purposes.

As of mid-1998, no high level consensus has been reached on the constitution and control of a national authentication framework. Numerous detailed issues are still playing out, including law reform, technology neutrality, and privacy. As a result, a state of confusion exists which is inhibiting the rollout of much business-to-business e-commerce. This paper will analyse the issues, and, with reference to case studies, show how a marketplace for authentication products and services is emerging. The paper will show how business peoples' needs for authentication can be prioritised and implemented, without losing time -- and competitiveness -- while the overarching framework is worked out.

Speaker

Stephen Wilson is one of Australia's foremost experts in digital certificates and public key infrastructure, with twelve years experience in electronic commerce, information technology and R&D. He is in charge of the KPMG Certificate Authority in Sydney and has business development responsibility for the firm's CA services throughout Asia Pacific (KPMG is the first “Big Five” services firm to enter the CA market). Stephen is a member of the Standards Australia PKAF committee, the APEC Electronic Authentication Working Group, and the Certification Forum of Australia, and was an industry observer for the commonwealth’s Project Gatekeeper.


See also

Comments to Tom Worthington MACS, Australian Computer Society tom.worthington@tomw.net.au