TrustBearer Labs Broadens Strong Authentication OpenID Service for Electronic National Identity Cards

Fort Wayne, IN, April 22, 2008–TrustBearer Labs, a leading authentication solutions company, has announced support for the Belgium eID, the Belgian national identification card, with its TrustBearer OpenID service.

With TrustBearer OpenID support, the Belgium eID smart card can now be paired with the OpenID web authentication standard, making it possible for over 7 million Belgian citizens to use their eID cards to access any website that accepts OpenID. The card is required to be carried by all citizens older than 15, and is used for identification and access to government services.

OpenID is an online authentication standard that allows a single ID to be used with any website that supports OpenID. While OpenID is gaining momentum with involvement from leading companies, such as Yahoo, Orange, AOL, IBM and other industry leaders, many OpenID critics and proponents agree that its business viability hinges upon addressing some security and privacy issues.

To address some of these issues, TrustBearer Labs launched a public OpenID service, https://openid.trustbearer.com, which pairs an OpenID account with a user’s smart card or other authentication device, which is used to securely authenticate the user. This gives the user full control of what information, if any, is transmitted to third parties during authentication.

One of TrustBearer Lab’s primary goals for this service was to provide international electronic-ID-holders with a way to use their IDs for authentication over the web. The service initially allowed U.S. government employees to use federal-issued smart cards with an OpenID. Since then, TrustBearer Labs has announced support for the Finland National ID and several other smart cards and authentication devices. With the Belgian ID support, the TrustBearer OpenID service reaches over 12 million users which already have an authorized identification card.

“We believe that our OpenID service complements national identification programs as it allows citizens to securely access a variety of web services using an identity card they already possess through a simple self-registration process,” says David Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of TrustBearer Labs. “This allows users and businesses alike to capture the privacy and security benefits of smart card technology without issuing a single card or device.”

About TrustBearer Labs

TrustBearer Labs delivers adaptive and effective identity solutions by creating software that simplifies and extends the use of authentication credentials. With over 10 years experience in developing applications in government, consumer, and health care, TrustBearer Labs is a recognized expert in making strong authentication and security simpler and more effective. More information about TrustBearer Labs can be found on the company website at: http://www.trustbearer.com.