Belcamp-based SafeNet, Inc. announced that it will provide hardware to 14 different countries to help create a high-tech, high-security electronic passport system mandated by the PATRIOT act.
SafeNet won separate deals from the governments and immigration services of each of the countries, including Australia, France, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, said Andy Solterbeck, general manager of SafeNet?s Commercial Enterprise business unit.
The new, tough-to-forge “e-passports” carry unique identifiers like fingerprints and a digital signature on an embedded microchip. They are being developed by 27 countries around the world in order to meet a mandate set out by the United States following the Sept. 11 attacks.
SafeNet?s hardware will create and store that information in at least 14 of those countries, with the others still in negotiation, Solterbeck said. Each digital signature will have a part that can be traced back to the office that assigned it, Solterback said.
“The protection of that ?root? signature is incredibly important ? SafeNet will provide the repository for that ?master key,? ” he said.
While the deals have expanded SafeNet?s international presence, the financial impact has not yet been announced.
The countries have until Oct. 26 to implement the e-passport system, which is intended to strengthen the validity of identities used to enter the United States and cross other borders, said SafeNet spokesman Jeffrey Bukowski.
Several countries have been issuing e-passports on a trial basis to their most frequent travelers, but SafeNet will provide some of the equipment needed for a full implementation, he said.
The United States was instrumental in pushing for other countries to create a more secure system, but has been slower to create its own because potential security risks and forged passports were perceived to be coming from outside the country, Solterbeck said.
