Chrysalis may hold the key to secure government networks through PC cards

Chrysalis Information Technology Security Inc., a Nepean, Ont.-based company, has won a federal contract to develop the Government Electronic Services Card (GESC).

As part of a plan to enhance the security of government computer networks, Chrysalis will design and develop embedded cryptographic products for privacy and authentication applications in both PCMCIA and SmartCard formats.

Co-operating with Chrysalis on this project are the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Department of National Defence (DND), and the RCMP. The GESC cryptographic products will be fully compatible with Northern Telecom's Entrust architecture, cornerstone of the federal government's plan to develop a public key infrastructure. Trials will begin in the fall, and Chrysalis will market the products once the trials are complete.

Basically, GESC is a privacy and confidentiality services card," explains Steven Baker, president and CEO of Chrysalis. "It does encryption, but it also lets users develop confidential and digitally-signed messages. It lets a travelling public servant carry the same kind of security tools that would be in his own desktop."

GESC will be the first product tested...