Security Market Balanced Hardware Software Solutions - Compaq 108164-003 - ProLiant - 800 White Paper

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enough to be implemented immediately at the local level, without coordination with other network
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devices.
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Digital certificates are paving the way for interoperable, secure identification across the Internet.
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Digital certificates are small pieces of software that use public-key cryptography to create a unique
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digital signature (or ID), reliably identifying a party across a network. These certificates enable
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previously unaffiliated parties, such as E-Commerce transactors, to identify one another with the
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. . aid of a trusted third party known as a certificate authority. Once digital certificates have been fully
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implemented, they allow for enterprise-wide single-sign-on, secure E-Commerce, easy
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. . establishment of VPNs, and many other applications.
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The certificate infrastructure and technology is still developing. Certificate server products are still
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in development and Certificate Authority services are in their infancy. For example, Secure
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Electronic Transactions (SET), the new E-Commerce credit card protocol, will depend heavily on
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digital certificates but has been delayed because of procedural and performance issues. As a result,
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applications using SET have been delayed as well. Therefore, certificate-based security will
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develop more slowly over the near-term. These vendors will need to focus on setting standards,
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marketing, and partnering to extend this solution.
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Over the long term, local access control and certificate-based security will eventually merge (see
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Figure 10).
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— Local Identification/
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Authentication Market —
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Fast
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Market
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Development
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Certificates contained and coordinated between smart-cards and browsers could become the
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universal ID for a variety of identification and access control functions. In another scenario,
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biometric identification software could become an additional identification factor integrated into a
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certificate-based security architecture. For example, a server or PC can require that a user submit
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his/her fingerprint description, which will be matched with the fingerprint description on a
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corresponding certificate.
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Security Market: Balanced Hardware/Software Solutions
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Complete security solutions will need to provide products that balance hardware and software.
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Individually, neither provides an adequate solution.
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A number of issues are driving the emphasis on software in security. Each of these factors increases
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the importance of software in the security market. As a result, enterprises will more likely invest in
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software solutions (see Figure 11). Analysts are recognizing this trend, and network software is
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projected to grow rapidly over the next several years, bringing with it a significant security
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component. IDC projects the Internet/Intranet Web server market will grow from $40 million in
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15
Local Identification Capabilities Combined with
Certificate-based Security Infrastructure
Figure 10
— Certificate-based
Security Market —
Slower
Market
Development