IDEALX Releases A New Version Of Cryptonit

Published 20th December 2006

An Innovative and Free Open Source Solution for the Encryption and Digital Signature of Documents.

IDEALX, publisher of OpenTrust, the leading open source security and trust infrastructure, today announces the availability of a new version of Cryptonit. This latest release is fully compatible with the growing advent of national electronic ID cards which when used with Cryptonit enables documents to be digitally signed.

Cryptonit, an innovative open source solution for both signing and encrypting documents, is based on the use of a digital signature that can be easily installed on a workstation. Published under the GPL (General Public License) and freely available since November 2003, Cryptonit has already been downloaded in over 45 countries worldwide.

The increasing importance of solutions and tools enabling electronic processing and online transactions as well as the use of email as a way of communicating strategic and confidential information means that tools enabling documents to be encrypted and digitally signed now play an essential part in everyday computing. Until now, the majority of market solutions have only been available to a restricted number of privileged users, primarily due to high licensing costs. For this reason, such solutions have been incompatible with large-scale deployment even within the biggest and most important enterprises and administrations.

Cryptonit is the component that IDEALlX’s OpenTrust global infrastructure uses to protect and digitally sign confidential documents. This OpenTrust infrastructure has already revolutionised the security market with its public key infrastructure software, IDX-PKI. IDEALX’s CEO, Olivier Guilbert enthuses: “The availability of this tool will help open the door to electronic transactions and remote declarations for all citizens. Cryptonit is free to download, use and distribute. We intend to develop it further and expand its potential usage by making it compatible with all European electronic ID cards.”

CRYPTONIT will protect all types of files (Word, PowerPoint, Presentation, Excel,Access etc) and ensures:

- Encryption / decryption

- Signature /signature authentication

- Generation of self-decrypting files

In just a couple of clicks Cryptonit can be installed on a workstation. Because it can support an unlimited number of users, each user or group must possess their own certificate. Files are then instantly encrypted using either « Drag ‘n’ drop » or using the « import » function. To decrypt them, the recipient’s certificate is required. In the same manner, files can be digitally signed. The signature is verified and the validity of the files and associated certificates approved. Cryptonit respects all market standards (LDAP, etc.) and is a non-commercial Open Source solution published under the GPL (General Public License).