Netscape Signs Off On New Communicator Enhancements

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January 12, 1998, Issue: 697
Section: Management & Security

Netscape Signs Off On New Communicator Enhancements

Tim Wilson

Sending forms electronically via the Internet is no big deal. It's getting the right people to sign off on them that's difficult.

In the early months of the new year, Netscape Communications will begin beta testing extensions to its Communicator client that will provide electronic "form signing"-a digital signature technology that will let users put a unique encrypted notation on an electronic document received over the Internet.

"A lot of companies are moving into E-commerce, but there are still some paper processes that can't be replicated on the Web," said David Andrews, senior security product manager at Netscape. "In order to process transactions, a lot of merchants and financial institutions still require users to print out electronic forms and fax them in with a signature."

The new extension to Communicator, which will be pilot tested by two major financial institutions in early 1998, will let users register unique numerical strings-electronic signatures-with certification authorities such as VeriSign Inc. These encrypted signatures can be called up and used to sign off on forms such as purchase orders or fund transfers, Netscape said.

The New Dotted Line

The National Automated Clearing House Association, which handles funds transfers between banks, has agreed to pilot test the forms signing capability in the first part of the new year. Integrion Financial Network-an equal partnership of 18 financial institutions, IBM and Visa USA-also said it will use the technology.

"Technology such as form signing is important in bringing a higher level of trust to Web-based financial transactions and in increasing the acceptance of Web-based commerce," said David Fortney, director of product development at Integrion.

When the new capability is widely deployed, users will get a pop-up dialog box on their Communicator screen that asks if they wish to approve a particular transaction. If they click yes, the software will automatically transmit a digital signature that is checked against signatures registered with the certification authority. If the signatures match, the transaction is approved.

Electronic signatures are considered legally binding in much of the United States, Andrews said, and in some states are actually required for processing electronic transactions.

Certification authorities that announced support for the new Communicator feature included BelSign, CertiSign, GTE Cybertrust, IPS Seguridad, Thawte and VeriSign.

The digital signature capability is based on industry standards such as X.509 and RSA's PKCS7 signature standard, Andrews said. The new feature is available now.