FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Denise Finnance
Operational Research Consultants, Inc.
Phone:
Web Site: ECA.ORC.com

ORC Begins Issuing DoD ECA Certificates
 

Fairfax, VA - June 29, 2004 - Today in Fairfax, VA, Operational Research Consultants, Inc. put into full operation the ORC External Certification Authority (ECA) for issuing Department of Defense authorized digital certificates to contractors, vendors, allied partners, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, Foreign Nationals, members of other Government agencies and their trading partners.

The commencement of full operational status follows the recent signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the External Certificate Authority Policy Management Authority (EPMA) and ORC, as signed by the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense (NII), Mr. Linton Wells II. The ECA program supersedes the Interim External Certificate Authority program by dropping the Interim designation and becoming a fully operational instantiation.

“As the first ECA, ORC is proud to be at the forefront in executing the President's Executive Order “to secure information systems for critical infrastructure” by helping protect “the way business is transacted, government operates, and national defense is conducted,”” said Daniel E. Turissini, President of ORC. “The collective efforts of our entire organization have brought us to this notable milestone in our company’s history, and for those efforts we can all be extremely proud” added Mr. Turissini.

As the first, and currently only, U.S. Government ECA, ORC is authorized to provide digital certificates for identification/digital signature, encryption, server authentication, and signing of code, to “protect Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) information in the interest of Information Assurance (IA), Operation Security (OPSEC) and anti-terrorism.“ The ORC ECA will continue to allow rapid support certification services to U.S. Government contractors supporting specified programs that will require or currently do require PKI support.

“Becoming the first fully operational ECA, in addition to being one of only three Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) vendors and an approved GSA eAuthentication Trusted Credential Service Provider, merely solidifies our standing in the Information Assurance/ Identity Management field”, Turissini added.

The ORC ECA supports the medium assurance and medium-hardware assurance levels, as defined in the U.S. Government ECA Certificate Policy. Features offered by the ECA program that exceed those of the Interim External Certificate Authority (IECA) program are the availability of 1, 2, or 3 year certificates, encryption key archival and recovery, Microsoft Smart Card logon, and Microsoft Domain Controller certificates.

The recent DoD restriction requiring digital authentication by way of an approved DoD digital certificate such as an IECA or ECA certificate prior to granting access to a growing number of DoD websites and resources is in adherence to DoD Directive 8500, which states,

“The use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates and biometrics for positive authentication shall be in accordance with published DoD policy and procedures. These technologies shall be incorporated in all new acquisitions and upgrades whenever possible. Where interoperable PKI is required for the exchange of unclassified information with vendors and contractors, the Department of Defense shall only accept PKI certificates obtained from a DoD-approved external certificate authority or other mechanisms approved in accordance with DoD policy.”

Prior to being designated as the first ECA, ORC demonstrated the technical proficiency to be designated as the first Interim External Certificate Authority (IECA-1) by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in 1999. Since that time, ORC has distinguished itself by becoming the first, and to date only, IECA/ECA authorized to issue all of the permissible types of certificates under the IECA and ECA programs. ORC has been focused on analysis, systems integration and systems engineering since incorporation in 1991. ORC is a Minority, Service Disabled Veteran owned, Small Disadvantaged Business.

For more information or to obtain ORC ECA certificates, visit the ORC ECA website at www.ECA.ORC.com or contact Denise Finnance, at .

 

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