Liquid Security Arrives “Down Under”
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.  As Australia’s single largest employer of scientists, CSIRO ventures into research across 17 divisional topics covering everything from entomology to textiles.

On of its latest announcements was TED – the Trust Extension Device .  According to CSIRO, TED “makes trust portable” by creating a miniature trust verification environment consisting of a small operating system, a few applications, and some encrypted data, and then placing that trust environment onto a portable device, such as a USB memory stick or mobile phone.

Plugging the TED into any computing platform then provides a completely isolated computing environment.  That “TED environment” proceeds to establish “trust” with a remote enterprise server before any application runs.  The idea is that both ends of the transaction must prove their identity to each other and provide evidence that the computing environments are what they claim to be.

By making trust “portable” in this way, CSIRO’s TED research has shown again how “liquid security” can create value with security services and technology.  TED is yet another example of Digital Trust that’s been liberated from dependence on time, place or platform – precisely the topic of Volume 5, Liquid Security, in the Digital Trust report series.

Digital Trust Is Already Liquid
As a research organization, CSIRO is now seeking expressions of interest from parties seeking to license their technology.  There are, however, technologies that deliver similar outcomes that are already commercialized and already making digital trust “wet” with value for the enterprise.  Such digital trust technology as RedCannon’s KeyPoint Access, RingCube’s MojoPac, or moka5’s LivePC offer the same category of value creation by making a personal computing environment (including trust properties) “liquid.” They deliver liquid security so you can “put a PC in your pocket” no matter where you are or what’s available to you.  With liquid security only the application matters.

So, whether you decide to dip your technology toes into liquid security with research results like TED, or you choose to dive into value creation with other liquid security technologies that have already surfaced in the commercial market, make sure you consider the full extent of the value that can be created with liquid security.

Bring a towel, and take the plunge with Volume 5 on Liquid Security.