OATH Hosts First Ever Bi-Continental Meetings at Smart Card Alliance Annual Conference and CARTES 2006 Congress in October and November

WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OATH, the Initiative for Open AuTHentication, today announced that the organization will host two fall Face-to-Face meetings in October and November in conjunction with major security industry events. The Fall OATH North American meeting will be held October 5^th, 2006 in conjunction with the Smart Card Alliance annual conference in La Jolla, CA. The first ever OATH European Kickoff meeting will be held November 8^th 2006 at the CARTES 2006 Congress in Paris.

“We are also eager to kick off our activities in Europe at the CARTES 2006 Congress. A significant number of our members are based in Europe and this meeting will help us better focus on the needs of our members on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Items on the agenda for OATH is the election of a new Joint Operating Committee chair, review of the organization’s proposed 2007 technology roadmap, and an overview of recommended 2007 marketing activities. OATH is a consortium of leading device, platform and application companies, and end user customers of authentication technologies. OATH has nearly doubled in membership since last year and features nearly 80 security companies and end user organizations actively participating in efforts for industry-backed standards for royalty-free open authentication.

OATH will also use the two meetings as an opportunity for continued recruitment of new member companies in North America and EMEA.

“OATH has achieved significant technology milestones towards the gaols established in our 2006 technology roadmap, as well as significant progress on adding new members on a global scale,” said Don Malloy, Director of Business Development for Innovative Card Technologies and chair for OATH’s marketing committee. “We are also eager to kick off our activities in Europe at the CARTES 2006 Congress. A significant number of our members are based in Europe and this meeting will help us better focus on the needs of our members on the other side of the Atlantic.”

The October meeting at the Smart Card Alliance annual conference will be held October 5, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency, La Jolla, California from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The November European kickoff will be held in conjunction with CARTES 2006 Congress in Paris on November 8, 2006 at the Villeponte Conference Center from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.

OATH now has 80 active members. New OATH members include: Atmel, Australian Post, Bharosa, Indesia, NTX Research, Open CS, Oxford Semiconductor, O2ID, Pandorga Technologies, Protocom, Passmark, and Spansion.

About the Initiative for Open AuTHentication

The Initiative for Open AuTHentication (OATH) is the industry’s leading collaboration of device, platform and application companies, and end user customers of authentication technologies. OATH participants hope to foster use of strong authentication across networks, devices and applications. OATH participants work collectively to facilitate standards and build a reference architecture for open authentication while evangelizing the benefits of strong interoperable authentication in a networked world. As OATH grows, the organization is actively seeking feedback and technology contributions from end-user participants who share a common vision for open authentication technology and the products that provide this important measure of security.

OATH is dedicated to helping customers reduce the cost and complexity of deploying strong authentication within enterprises, and across the Internet. Since its formation, OATH’s membership includes security industry leaders from token manufacturers, platform vendors, smartcard providers, and security services companies. End user companies are joining OATH to add their voice and ideas towards the goal of open authentication.

Some current OATH members include: ActivIdentity, Inc.; Aladdin Knowledge Systems; AOL; ARM; Assa Abloy ITG; Authenex, Inc.; Aventail Corporation; BMC Software; CertiSign Digital; Checkpoint Software Technologies; Citrix Systems; Crypto Intelligence; Deepnet Technologies; Diamelle; Digital Persona; Discretix Technologies; Diversinet Corp.; DynaSig Corp.; Encentuate; Entrust Technologies, Inc.; Forum Systems, Inc.; Gemalto; IBM; Identita; Identity Engines; Imprivata; InCard Technologies; iovation, Inc.; IronKey; Iteon; Juniper Networks, Inc.; K.K. Athena Smartcard Solutions; Livo Technologies SA; Multi-Factor Authentication; nCryptone; Passgo; Passlogix, Inc.; Phoenix Technologies Ltd.; PortWise, Inc.; RedCannon Security, Inc.; SafLink; SanDisk; Signify; Smart Card Alliance; SPYRUS; TriCipher, Inc.; VASCO Data Security; VeriSign, Inc.; 41^st Parameter; and Xelios Systems, among others.

To join OATH, go to: http://www.openauthentication.org/membership.asp. Access the enrollment form by visiting: http://www.openauthentication.org/membership_form.asp.

To learn more about OATH, e-mail info@openauthentication.org or visit http://www.openauthentication.org.

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