Conseil Général de l’Aube chooses Weneo IDentity based on charismathics CSSI middleware

Munich, Germany and Gardanne, France – 07 December 2010 — Today at Cartes & Identification 2010, Neowave and charismathics announced their first joint win, less than 3 months after they entered into a partnership agreement.

At the end of a public tender process, the local government body Conseil Général de l’Aube has preferred Neowave’s Weneo IDentity Duo 1 GB solution. Initially, 1500 public servants will use a smart device to authenticate to the IT network and sign documents electronically. Eventually, Weneo will also serve as a contactless badge, for a number of applications: physical access control, time management and secure printing.

Dematerialization at the heart of the Conseil Général’s IT strategy
For Philippe Ricard, the Conseil Général’s Director of IT, the full dematerialization of documents and, most importantly, processes, can only be achieved if all agents are provided with the right tools: an electronic signature application, to sign and review signatures, an electronic vault, to safely store and retrieve signed documents, and, of course, an electronic certificate.
«We have been looking for a cryptographic media that would be able to securely host a certificate from our internal PKI (EJBCA), while, at the same time, providing the convenience of a traditional USB memory stick, together with the RFID capability that we will need to deploy contactless applications in the near future. The Weneo solution met the bill very effectively», said Mr Ricard.

A fully integrated, multifunction tool, Weneo IDentity Duo 1 GB combines multiple security functions within a single object. In a convenient and robust form factor, it provides the features of a USB memory stick, smart card based token with built-in reader, and RFID badge. The selected model can host two smart cards: the embedded JCOP java card will host the certificate from the internal PKI for strong authentication; a second smart card can be inserted in the SIM slot, hosting the PRISv1 certificate provided by a Certificate Authority approved by the French government.
Mr Ricard is considering using that feature to allow those agents who need to sign documents with qualified certificates, to do it using a single secure object.

When it comes to strong network authentication, the solution relies on charismathics’ middleware, which Neowave chose for its comprehensiveness and stability. Installed on all workstations, the software ensures the communication between Weneo’s smart card, on the one end, and the operating system (Windows XP), directory (Active Directory) and PKI (EJBCA), on the other end. Upon inserting a Weneo token in the USB port of a computer, the middleware passes on the certificate to Windows, which then lets the user type his secret code in order to open the session.

About Neowave

Neowave, a French company created in 2007 in Gardanne, Provence, at the heart of the Secure Communications Solutions cluster, is a global leader in the emerging Smart Objects market. The Weneo products are personal, communicative, compact and multifunctional devices, combining the high security of Smart Cards with the advantages of USB and RFID/NFC connectivity. The Weneo IDentity product range combines the functions of a token for strong authentication, encryption and electronic signature, a contactless badge for physical access control, time management, secure printing and canteen payment, and a secure USB memory stick.