The Defense Department intends by the end of this year to use the General Services Administration's governmentwide digital certificates to authenticate electronic trans.actions with many of its contractors and outside partners. In 1999, DOD awarded its own contract to create the . . .
The Defense Department intends by the end of this year to use the General Services Administration's governmentwide digital certificates to authenticate electronic trans.actions with many of its contractors and outside partners. In 1999, DOD awarded its own contract to create the Interim External Certificate Authority (IECA), which issues and manages public-key infrastructure certificates to Defense partners. Those certificates are equivalent to the medium-level certificates issued internally to DOD personnel.

The Pentagon is now working with GSA to bring together the IECA and GSA Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) contracts. That will enable the department to take advantage of the governmentwide pricing the GSA contract provides, and it also sets a single strategy for the private-sector entities that work with both Defense and civilian agencies, officials said.

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