EC backs Web security project

NEWS A UK-based research project was elevated onto the world stage yesterday when it was awarded funding and a stamp of approval by the European Commission. The project, known as Secure Single Sign-On (SSSO) is based around the concept that the world's computing infrastructure should be standardised in such a way that all citizens are able to log on from anywhere in the world. The project has been nurtured by a research organisation based in London called Netproject. The claim is that SSSO can only be achieved through making computing systems independent of all vendors. Eddie Bleasdale, the organisation's leader, believes that work needs to be done to steer SSSO out of the grip of such IT vendors. Bleasdale said: "SSSO is the last stranglehold of IT vendors - they are also working towards the model of SSSO, but they want to keep all systems proprietary so they can keep control of organisation's IT strategies," he claimed. Bleasdale's plan is to base the SSSO model around open source software - a model of software development that means computing systems and applications are created and enhanced over the Internet by many developers rather than one vendor. Although he wouldn't reveal how much money the EC has committed, or which directorate it will be coming from, he said the decision was the work of a few "enlightened individuals". Bleasdale said Netproject members - which include Nationwide, Royal & SunAlliance, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax - have all given the idea their backing.