History
WISeKey was founded by Carlos Moreira. Prior to WISeKey, Moreira served as an expert on IT, e-Security and telecommunications for 15 years at United Nations Organizations, including the European Free Trade Association, the International Labor Office (ILO), International Trade Center, and UNCTAD.[3] His work focused on consulting on security and new technologies. Moreira was named Man of the Year in 2007 by the Swiss business magazine, AGEFI. WISeKey has been analyzing the issues surrounding security for many years. In its first years, WISeKey globally launched and operated Root Certification Authority services. WISeKey took a special interest in contributing to e-Government solutions, such as the electronic voting or e-voting system implemented in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, the Citizen Service Platform implemented for the government of Biscay, Spain, and current initiatives to help governments establish digital ID programs. In the June 2011 issue of Bilan, Carlos Moreira was named one of the 300 most influential persons in Switzerland in the pharma and technologies sectors.
Technology - A public key infrastructures (PKIs) is an arrangement that binds public cryptographic keys with respective user identities by means of a certificate authority (CA). WISeKey uses distributed root-based PKI and Trusted Electronic Identification (“eID”) technologies to provide identification, authentication, and encryption services through the use of digital certificates.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)PKI is the foundation for online commerce and other applications that require security and authentication in an open network. Public-key cryptography requires a public-key infrastructure to publish and manage key values. WISeKey developed its CertifyID product line to protect financial transactions, secure email, authenticate web sites, all tightly integrated with the Windows Server platform.
PKI certificates are the commonly accepted method for authenticating and protecting valuable transactions, beginning with their fairly transparent use in enabling secure sockets layer (SSL) web sites which allow you to trust the site you are using with personal and confidential data, without any risk of leaks. Certificates are also supported in all major web browsers allowing easy client authentication. The same is true for secure devices such as smart cards and USB tokens.
This approach also allows WISeKey to provide companies with the flexibility and scalability they need to satisfy their own requirements. Companies can choose to deploy a framework hosted entirely within their own facility, or partner with WISeKey to implement a managed service hosted at WISeKey’s secure data centre. WISeKey can provide certification services to a small company as well as a national identity system, with in-house or managed modes of deployment.
eIDGovernments and countries are rapidly adopting eID cards as the most secure infrastructure for providing e-Government services.
Individuals can use the trusted electronic Identity (eID) in their business activities as well as their personal transactions. A trusted eID can be used on any secure storage device that will be accepted across the Internet for secure communications and transactions.[7]
Bespoke Solutions- WISeKey supports the paperless office allowing digital signing and time-stamping of documents and archiving that follows complete legal and audit compliance.
WISeKey develops secure transactional solutions to meet specific legal requirements of entities around the world, offering operations with total security, reduced risk, and legally binding audit trails.
Trust ModelWISeKey provides specialized security technologies for data protection, and effective identification and authentication of people and objects over physical infrastructures, networks and the Internet. The company’s philosophy is that the use of secure digital identities can ensure trusted communications and electronic transactions, without hindering the Internet’s efficiency and ability to transfer information.
In order to operate in the market of digital identities, a high level of trust needs to be built up. WISeKey leverages its unique position as a Swiss company with a global reach. WISeKey has developed a novel institutional and trust management framework that enables entities using it to convey trust through the segregation of ownership of components of the technological infrastructure, intellectual property rights, and policy creation authority among entities that are, by law, structured differently and in a manner that reinforces the management of trust. Swiss neutrality and privacy laws enable the company to operate without geopolitical or governmental constraints.
Operations and AuditingWISeKey’s operations are audited annually by independent auditors designated by the OISTE Foundation[8] to ensure its compliance with the OISTE Foundation-approved policies and procedures as well as industry-recognized operations standards such as WebTrust for Certification Authorities.[9]
OISTE FoundationWISeKey is backed by the OISTE foundation to guard and manage its root keys. The OISTE Foundation is a non-profit international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1998, OISTE was created with the objectives of promoting the use and adoption of international standards to secure electronic transactions, expand the use of digital certification and ensure the interoperability of certification authorities’ e-transaction systems.
As part of its relationship with the OISTE Foundation, WISeKey is bound to promote the security of electronic communications worldwide and ensure compliance with essential rights related to information protection online such as privacy laws. It is from this trust model that the WISeKey initiative “The Right to Disappear” evolved: the company is becoming a leading advocate to protect individual privacy rights online while enabling people to maximize the use of the Internet.
High Security Data CentersWISeKey has built its own high security data center in Geneva and is currently finalizing another data center in Bilbao, Spain.
WISeKey root systems backed by OISTE are created and maintained in secure military bunkers under the Swiss Alps and operated by the Swiss Army, recognized as one of the most secure areas in the world today. Because of Swiss confidentiality laws, no private or government body can force the root key to be divulged. This guarantees that all information and data encrypted through OISTE/WISeKey certificates will remain secure. This approach is unique as no other infrastructure of its kind exists in such a high security environment, and the level of neutrality and protection afforded by stringent Swiss confidentiality and security laws is second to none.
The Right to DisappearIn November, the EU issued a proposal on the revision of several of the 1995 directive, which will be voted in 2011. This new directive provides in particular the right to "disappear" to users. This is currently not on social networking sites like Facebook.
Carlos Moreira has been a strong advocate for the protection of consumer data being compiled on a daily basis by companies and social networks. No regulations are in place to police how this data is used, or even to define standards around the security around the storage of this data. This compiled data is personally identifiable information (PII) that can be used to identify or trace a unique individual, or make that person vulnerable to hacking. It is WISeKey’s philosophy that any agency collecting PII has the responsibility to keep it secure and use it only in a responsible, transparent manner, of which the consumer is advised in advance and has the option to opt-out.
