Data security specialist SecureNet has joined forces with public key infrastructure player eSign Australia and iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions - a Sun-Netscape alliance - to provide e-commerce solutions for financial institutions. The solutions will conform to the security and risk management standards established by the Identrus network, a spokesman claimed.

He added that the alliance will work to integrate SecureNet's TrustedNet smart card and security server technologies with eSign's PKI services and iPlanet's Trustbase transaction manager, which banks use to check identities against back end data systems. The three are offering an Australian test drive program that will allow financial institutions to conduct low-cost tests of the technologies over the Internet.

"Working with Identrus, SecureNet and iPlanet will allow us to facilitate the growth of B2B e-commerce in Australia by helping financial institutions to establish the high level of trust required to participate," explained Gregg Rowley, managing director of eSign Australia.

Identrus was formed in 1999 by a global network of financial institutions to provide a legal and technical framework of standards that enables member banks to operate as trusted third parties for e-commerce transactions. Geoffrey Ross, managing director of SecureNet, said the Australian alliance between the three companies validated the Identrus technology model by demonstrating the interoperability between the necessary components of a bank's Identrus PKI. "Together we can now offer financial institutions a flexible and integrated suite of products that securely delivers certificates on smart cards to end users," he explained