Software protection goes PKI

Wibu-Systems and charismathics to co-operate on merging security technologies

Munich/Karlsruhe, Germany - 22 September 2009

As of September 1st 2009, the two German security experts Wibu-Systems AG and charismathics GmbH have entered into an agreement for strategic product cooperation. With this partnership, Wibu’s CodeMeter product range will now support all major identity management standards and allows the use of all common PKI applications such as Outlook, Firefox, Acrobat, and most of the Virtual Private Networks thanks to charismathics smart security interface.
In the first step, the companies will offer a USB stick that combines Digital Rights Management with the added security authentication features of a smart card. This product is designed to address the demands for a unique hardware device to serve both software protection and logical access control purposes at the same time.

charismathics, one of the leaders in the cryptographic industry, will provide their smart security interface, which is an agnostic Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) middleware. Wibu-Systems, a leader in software protection, will provide the security that the certificates are stored directly in the hardware. This new token solution will expand Wibu’s proven CodeMeter set of features as well as the hardware CmStick so that all software vendors already using CodeMeter will automatically be able to benefit by using the new Public Key Infrastructure functionality. Furthermore this solution adds value and security to companies wanting to protect both their applications and laptops by a single secure modern token.

The new OEM version of charismathics CSSI middleware will support all CodeMeter hardware, like CmStick or CmCards, for example SD cards. It is a 100% complete integration of worldwide common standards like Microsoft Crypto Service Provider (CSP), PKCS#11 command set and Apple tokenD. X.509 certificates will be stored in the safest memory area, the smart card chip, which is embedded in the CmStick USB token itself. The private key is thus kept secret in a tamper-proof unit. The CmStick can be purchased with flash memory as an option. This memory works like a normal USB drive so the user can carry data or applications with him. CodeMeter with CSSI middleware will run on all common operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The charismathics CSSI middleware will be available sometime Q4/2009. A free 60-day trial can be downloaded at codemeter.de.

Oliver Winzenried, founder and CEO of Wibu-Systems AG, declared, "I’m very glad to provide a pioneering authentication and protection solution for both our customers and prospects. CodeMeter is the world first product fulfilling two different security functions – Token plus Dongle – in one unique hardware, CmStick. This idea is completely new in the software protection market, and I’m proud to be the initiator of such trend.”

Sven Gossel, CEO of charismathics GmbH, adds: "A fully secured end-point-device requires highly integrated technologies, providing usability, with the flexibility to meet upcoming market demands. This partnership of charismathics and Wibu-Systems proves again our leadership in the IT security industry and turns into practice a vision of an ever evolving market.”

About WIBU-Systems

WIBU-SYSTEMS AG was founded in 1989 by Oliver Winzenried and Marcellus Buchheit. The main focus is in the fields of Digital Rights Management, software protection, license management, document protection and access control. The company located in Karlsruhe has distributors all over the world, offices in Seattle, USA, as well as in Shanghai, China, and sales offices in Belgium, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.