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G&D launches PKI browser, pushes mobile web

Munich-based technology group Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) hopes to stimulate the mobile Internet market by offering PKI-based wireless services with the STARSIM browser PKI product family.
Written by Ariel Tam, Contributor
Munich-based technology group Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) hopes to stimulate the mobile Internet market by offering PKI-based wireless services with the STARSIM browser PKI product family.

The STARSIM browser PKI consists of STARSIM browser, a SIM-based micro-browser enhanced by a PKI plug, and STARSIM browser suite, a software tool that enables the development of PKI-secured wireless Internet applications in a PC-based environment.

The incorporation of PKI to the wireless Internet was done in a bid to accelerate the market adoption of secure, Web-based transaction and authentication services such as mobile banking, mobile brokerage and mobile payment.

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Based on the WIG (Wireless Internet Gateway) technology developed by Sonera SmartTrust Ltd, the STARSIM browser product line represents the one of the most recent initiatives for accessing WML content via a SAT (SIM Application Toolkit) enabled GSM-handset.

WIG translates WML code in Internet applications into compressed byte code and sends it to the SmartTrust SIM Browser located on the SIM card. The browser then translates the byte code into SAT commands, which are then executed on the handset.

By integrating the whole PKI functionality into the STARSIM browser Suite, G&D hopes to give mobile operators and content providers a solution that offers real-life implementation and testing of mobile commerce services in a virtual environment.

Operators will have absolute control of their wireless Internet services, without the need for a handset, access to an operator's network or even a link to a trust center. Development time and related costs are reduced, thus allowing operators to quickly respond to market demands and deliver PKI-enabled mobile Internet services immediately. Applications developed with this tool promise to fulfill even the high-end security requirements of financial institutions.

"Most current generation GSM handsets support SAT. That is a huge base of mobile users who could be offered Internet-based services in the form of WML and SMS," declares Timo T Laaksonen, executive vice president, Sonera SmartTrust. "STARSIM browser Suite lets the operator do this with a short turn-around time between development, testing and roll-out."

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