Unlimited server and personal certificates at one fixed fee; New service offered, in partnership with Comodo, as part of expanding InCommon Trust Service Portfolio

The InCommon Federation has today announced the launch of a new trust service that will offer unlimited server and personal certificates to U.S. colleges and universities. As the first certificate service of its kind in the U.S., Internet2, which operates InCommon, is introducing this offering to provide the U.S. higher education community with a cost-effective means of deploying and operating a more secure and authenticated online environment for their campus constituencies. Details are available at www.incommon.org/cert.

“This new service provides tangible value to the U.S. research and education community and extends a pathway for innovation on campus,” said John Krienke, chief operating officer of InCommon. “By offering unlimited SSL certificates, we’re providing the potential for campuses to significantly reduce their certificate-related expenses. But at least as important, later this year we will include unlimited personal certificates, setting the stage for campuses to more easily adopt important services like signed email and second-factor authentication. Economics are no longer a limitation for certificate possibilities."

InCommon is offering this service through a partnership with Comodo CA Ltd., a major certification authority and Internet2 industry member. Through the agreement, U.S. institutions of higher education can purchase unlimited numbers of certificates for SSL, personal signing, encryption, and code signing. InCommon partnered with Comodo, in part, because of the successful implementation of a similar program the company developed with TERENA (the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association). The program launched last year has enabled its NREN members in over 30 European countries and international public sector organizations to offer certificates powered by Comodo to all education institutions throughout Europe.

“We are excited about the opportunity to join InCommon in helping millions of students in colleges and universities across the U.S. to secure their online experience and communications,” said Melih Abdulhayoglu, chief executive officer of Comodo. “Enabling students and faculty members with the personal secure certificate and second factor authentication, whether for email encryption or for secure access to the university’s internal network, will prevent security breaches and leak of digital information.”

Any higher education institution with its primary location in the U.S., and qualifying for an “edu” domain name, is eligible for the program. Internet2 member institutions will receive a 25 percent discount on the Certificate Service. Institutions must also participate in or join InCommon to take advantage of the Certificate Service. The service fee schedule is based on an institution’s classification under the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and requires an initial three-year commitment.

The InCommon Certificate Service is testing the program with a small number of institutions during June 2010. A full rollout of the service is expected in late summer of 2010. Institutions with expiring certificate agreements will receive priority, allowing them to avoid service interruptions. The roots of InCommon's SSL and personal Certificate Authorities are in all of the major Internet web browsers and devices.

More information is available at www.incommon.org/cert or by emailing incommon-info@incommonfederation.org.