PCMCIA Crypto

[nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)]

PCMCIA Establishes Security Card Working Group

The dream of a standardized encryption interface may soon
be realized!


San Jose, Calif., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- PCMCIA has
formed a new Working Group dedicated to standardizing and
promoting the PC Card as an interface for data encryption
and digital signature applications.

The Working Group was formed to work within the PCMCIA
Technical Committee to help the Association define and
standardize the capabilities and requirements for PC Card
Security Card devices.  The Group's immediate goals are
to define the necessary extensions to the PC Card
Standard that will allow easy identification of Security
Card devices, and to proactively identify other vendors
in the market and solicit their support for standardizing
PC Cards as a security device.

The formation of this Group represents the formalization
of an industry trend.  A standardized form factor and
interface for security devices is finally an attainable
goal thanks to the widespread acceptance of PC Card
technology," said Gary Visser, a senior software engineer
with Spyrus Communications and Co-Chairperson of the
Working Group.  "It is this high level of host support
that will promote PC Cards as a solution for electronic
banking and commerce."

PC Cards are seen by many experts as an ideal solution
for digital signature and data encryption applications
due to the established base of PC Card slots, and because
most security applications are math intensive and require
the processing power and storage of computers.

The proposal to form the Group was presented to PCMCIA by
Spyrus, Inc. of San Jose, California.  The group will be
co-chaired by Edward Tuggle of IBM Corporation and Visser
of Spyrus, Inc.

Visit PCMCIA's World Wide Web site at
<http://www.pc-card.com>.

Contact:  Greg Barr, Public Relations Coordinator, of
PCMCIA, 408-433-2273, ext. 114, or <gbarr@pcmcia.org>.