VeriSign receives DOD certification

VeriSign has been accredited by the Defense Department to expand its digital certificate services to federal, state and local governments.

The certification, which VeriSign obtained under DOD’s External Certificate Authority (ECA) program, also authorizes the company to issue digital certificates to individual employees of state and local governments, businesses and foreign governments, company officials announced today.

Digital certificates provide an additional layer of security for e-mail and remote Web site access by authenticating users’ identities online. People also use them to digitally sign documents and electronic forms.

DOD has modified hundreds of its Web servers and other applications to accept the digital certificates, said George Schu, public sector vice president at VeriSign.

Based on the new certification, Schu said, VeriSign plans to expand its certificate service to include multiyear certificates, hardware tokens, key escrow and trusted agent services.

Only Operational Research Consultants has received similar certification under DOD’s ECA program.