Telenor's Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) encryption system is one of the most effective guarantee of network security.
The Tech Wireless Security
Security is one of the hottest areas in wireless communications development. Currently, the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) encryption system is the most effective guarantee of network security. Kjell Røberg-Larsen of Telenor Mobile Communications talks about the technology, its use and its future.
“In November 1999, Telenor released its first wireless commerce application,” says Kjell Røberg-Larsen, head of SIM card development at Telenor Mobile Communications (TMC). “This application allowed Telenor wireless customers in major Norwegian cities to reserve and purchase film tickets over a secure and safe wireless connection. That was a start.”
Chasing a standard
Despite a strong start, the service has a couple of drawbacks. The browser for menus and security is exclusive to Telenor and is built up around a special arrangement with the Norwegian national film board. This kind of service is limited in scale and impossible to standardise.
“If secure mobile phone transactions (m-commerce) were to be a market-wide reality, we would have to employ a security structure open to a broader market – something that is in line for standardisation,” says Røberg-Larsen. TMC was one of the first telcoms to begin exploring the potential of an encryption system called PKI (see sidebar, “PKI what” on page 18).
While PKI is applicable to any public network, Røberg-Larsen and his team at TMC are among the few companies working on mobile PKI. However, Røberg-Larsen believes that Telenor’s early decisions may establish some crucial advantages for TMC’s mobile PKI solution.
Remote activation
“One way or another, the PKI information has to be downloaded onto a customer’s SIM card. Smarttrust’s current solution requires users to purchase a new PKI-enabled SIM card. Right now, we are looking at a solution wherein all of our SIM cards are PKI-enabled, but not PKI-activated. Customers interested in making secure transactions could simply call Telenor and have the PKI system on their SIM card remotely activated,” says Røberg-Larsen.
TMC initiated a project in co-operation with a host of SIM-card and PKI technology leaders (Swedish Across Wireless, Norwegian Protect Data AS, American Entrust Technologies and Finnish Setec Oy) last December. The project’s aim was to make the first demonstration of digitally signed transactions from a GSM handset to an m-commerce server utilising PKI technology and SIM Toolkit 2+ cards.
TMC organised the system integration work and provided the real-life demo environment. On April 14, the trial run was an unqualified success – an event Røberg-Larsen described at the SIM2000 Conference as “a scoop, not only for Telenor as an operator, but for the m- and e-commerce markets in Scandinavia.”
PKi-potential
Potential uses for this technology are plenty. It enables reliable identification, order confirmation, payment, betting and auctions in a mobile commerce environment. PKI-enabled mobile banking services will allow secure cash transfers and stock transactions, replacing the traditional password calculation for Internet banking. Finally, the system will add a more secure element to e-commerce: “Users can order products via the Internet and then arrange secure payment through their mobile telephone,” says Røberg-Larsen.
One new Telenor start-up is already establishing a multi-channel online network that is more personal and more secure, based on PKI technology developed by Røberg-Larsen’s group (see article on page 18).
As Røberg-Larsen and his TMC team work to turn their PKI development success into a wide range of products, they face some obstacles. “We are trying to adapt the SIM and PKI technologies to run together smoothly, decrease the time necessary to make a transaction and convince the market of the security of PKI-based data exchange,” he says.
Since PKI technology was adopted from banks in the first place, the latter task shouldn’t be a problem. But as with any new technology pushing for market-wide standardisation, there are bound to be some newcomers, some position-shuffling in the market – and perhaps some surprises.
Text by: Ryan Skinner
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