Entrust

Entrust is an American security technology company headquartered in Shakopee, Minnesota. Its business combines the heritage of Datacard Corporation, which began in 1969 with systems for producing payment cards, and Entrust Technologies, a public-key-infrastructure company whose products originated inside Nortel's Secure Networks group in the early 1990s. Datacard acquired Entrust in 2013, the combined organization adopted the Entrust Datacard name in 2014, and the company rebranded as Entrust Corporation in 2020. The company develops hardware and software intended to establish trust in digital and physical transactions. Its portfolio has included public and private key infrastructure, digital certificates, certificate lifecycle management, encryption, hardware security modules, identity verification, multifactor authentication, digital signatures, card personalization, passport and identity-document issuance, and technologies for governments, financial institutions, telecommunications providers, and large enterprises. Products such as nShield hardware security modules are designed to protect cryptographic keys and sensitive operations, while identity and authentication offerings support access control, fraud reduction, and verification of people and credentials. Its issuance systems are used to personalize payment cards and secure identity documents. Entrust expanded through acquisitions. The earlier Entrust business bought authentication, authorization, fraud-detection, scanning, compliance, and PKI-services capabilities. Under Datacard ownership, the company acquired nCipher Security's general-purpose hardware security module business in 2019, followed by government digital-identity specialist WorldReach Software and identity-security company HyTrust in 2021. In 2024, Entrust completed its acquisition of Onfido, adding a prominent identity-verification platform. These transactions broadened the company from certificate and card-issuance technology into a more comprehensive identity, data-protection, and cryptographic-security provider. Entrust formerly operated a publicly trusted certificate authority and issued TLS and other public certificates through Entrust and AffirmTrust roots. In 2024, Google Chrome and Mozilla announced changes to their root-store treatment of newly issued certificates chaining to those roots. Entrust subsequently sold its public certificate authority business to Sectigo in January 2025; the customer migration was completed in September 2025 according to the cited reference material. Entrust continues to offer private and managed PKI, identity, authentication, encryption, hardware security, secure issuance, and related software rather than public certificate authority services. The company serves customers across financial services, government and border management, healthcare, telecommunications, technology, retail, and other regulated or security-sensitive sectors. Its positioning is centered on digital trust: helping organizations authenticate users and devices, protect keys and data, issue trusted credentials, secure transactions, and manage the lifecycle of digital and physical identities. Entrust remains privately held. Todd Wilkinson was identified as CEO until a planned leadership transition to Tony Ball effective March 31, 2026.

Entrust's history combines two related but initially separate technology businesses: Datacard Corporation and Entrust Technologies. Datacard was founded in 1969 by Willis K. Drake. Its early systems helped banks and retailers produce plastic payment cards more efficiently. Over time, the company expanded into secure personalization and issuance of identity cards, passports, and other credentials. Datacard was publicly traded before being acquired in 1987 by the investment office of Germany's Quandt family, which retained a long-term ownership role. In 2000, Datacard acquired Platform Seven, a smart-card technology unit created by National Westminster Bank. The Entrust side began in Nortel's Secure Networks group. Its public-key-infrastructure software was first released in January 1994 as Nortel developed a business around PKI products. In December 1996, Nortel spun the group out as Entrust Technologies Inc., while retaining a majority stake at the time. Entrust built a portfolio around certificates, authentication, authorization, encryption, digital signatures, and the management of cryptographic trust. It acquired enCommerce in April 2000, adding authentication and authorization technology. In 2004, it acquired content-scanning and compliance assets from AmikaNow!. Orion Security Solutions, a PKI-services provider, was acquired in June 2006, and Business Signatures Corporation, a fraud-detection software company, was acquired the following month. Entrust became privately held after its acquisition by Thoma Bravo in July 2009. Datacard acquired Entrust from Thoma Bravo in 2013. The transaction joined Datacard's secure issuance and card-personalization expertise with Entrust's digital security, PKI, and authentication capabilities. The combined business used the Entrust Datacard name from 2014. A significant subsequent expansion occurred in February 2019, when the company acquired Thales's general-purpose hardware security module business, known as nCipher Security. The divestiture was required by the European Commission as a condition for approving Thales's acquisition of Gemalto. nCipher became a major component of Entrust's cryptographic-security offering. On September 14, 2020, Entrust Datacard rebranded as Entrust and changed its legal entity name to Entrust Corporation. The new identity presented the company as a broader digital-trust provider rather than solely a card-issuance and certificate business. In April 2021, Entrust acquired Ottawa-based WorldReach Software, bringing in digital identity and travel-document systems used in government and border contexts. Entrust also acquired HyTrust in 2021, adding capabilities associated with data protection and security controls in virtualized and cloud environments. The company continued its identity expansion with the acquisition of Onfido, a UK identity-verification company, completed in April 2024. Onfido's technology complemented Entrust's authentication, credential, and fraud-prevention products by adding identity proofing and verification workflows. Entrust's public certificate authority business later faced changes in browser trust policy. On June 27, 2024, Google Chrome announced that newly issued TLS server certificates chaining to Entrust and AffirmTrust roots would no longer receive the same default trust treatment in Chrome. The policy was applied with Chrome 131 beginning November 12, 2024, using the published certificate-timestamp condition; previously issued certificates were not automatically affected. Mozilla announced a comparable distrust-after date of November 30, 2024, for newly issued certificates chaining to the same roots. In January 2025, Entrust sold its public certificate authority business to Sectigo. The cited material states that Sectigo completed migration of Entrust public-certificate customers to its platform on September 29, 2025. Entrust retained private and managed PKI and its wider identity, cryptography, authentication, and secure-issuance businesses. In July 2025, Entrust announced that Tony Ball would become chief executive after Todd Wilkinson, with the transition scheduled for March 31, 2026. The company's present identity therefore reflects a long evolution from payment-card production systems and PKI software into a privately held provider of digital trust, identity security, cryptographic protection, and secure credential issuance.

• 2025

  Public certificate authority business is sold to Sectigo

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Entrust divested its public certificate business while retaining private and managed PKI and other security offerings.

• 2024

  Onfido acquisition is completed

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  The acquisition added identity verification and identity-proofing capabilities.

• 2021

  WorldReach and HyTrust acquisitions

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Entrust expanded into government digital identity, travel documents, data protection, and cloud security through acquisitions of WorldReach Software and HyTrust.

• 2020

  Entrust Datacard rebrands as Entrust

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  The company changed its corporate and market identity to Entrust Corporation and Entrust.

• 2019

  nCipher Security joins Entrust

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Entrust Datacard acquired Thales's general-purpose HSM business, expanding its cryptographic hardware portfolio.

• 2014

  Combined company adopts Entrust Datacard name

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  The combined business began operating under the Entrust Datacard identity.

• 2013

  Datacard acquires Entrust

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Datacard acquired Entrust from Thoma Bravo, combining secure issuance with digital-security capabilities.

• 2009

  Entrust is taken private by Thoma Bravo

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Thoma Bravo acquired Entrust Technologies, ending its period as a publicly traded company.

• 2000

  Datacard acquires Platform Seven

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Datacard acquired a smart-card technology unit created by National Westminster Bank.

• 1996

  Entrust Technologies is spun out of Nortel

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Nortel separated its Secure Networks group into Entrust Technologies Inc. while retaining a majority interest at that time.

• 1994

  Entrust PKI software is released

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Nortel's Secure Networks group released the PKI software that formed the foundation of Entrust Technologies.

• 1987

  Datacard becomes privately owned

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Datacard was acquired by the Quandt family investment office after a period as a public company.

• 1969

  Datacard Corporation is founded

  [1]Entrusten.wikipedia.org

  Willis K. Drake founded Datacard, initially focused on systems for producing payment cards more efficiently.

A global digital-trust and identity-security provider spanning cryptography, authentication, PKI, identity verification, secure credential issuance, and payment-card personalization.

• Identity and access management

  Entrust IdentityGuard

  An identity-security and authentication offering associated with access protection, multifactor authentication, and risk-based controls. It is intended to help organizations verify users and reduce unauthorized access across enterprise and customer-facing environments.

• Hardware security modules

  Entrust nShield

  A family of hardware security modules used to generate, store, and protect cryptographic keys and perform sensitive cryptographic operations. The portfolio originated in the nCipher business acquired from Thales and is used in applications including payment security, PKI, cloud services, code signing, and data protection.

• PKI and certificate lifecycle management

  Entrust Certificate Services

  A group of certificate and PKI capabilities for issuing, managing, renewing, and governing digital certificates. Entrust continues to provide private and managed PKI services after selling its public certificate authority business to Sectigo in 2025.

• Identity verification · 2024

  Entrust Identity Verification

  Identity-proofing and verification capabilities strengthened by Entrust's acquisition of Onfido. The offering is designed to help organizations verify people remotely, support onboarding, and reduce identity fraud in digital journeys.

• Secure credential issuance

  Entrust Datacard issuance systems

  Hardware and software for producing and personalizing payment cards, identity cards, passports, and other secure credentials. These systems connect physical issuance with identity and security workflows for banks, governments, retailers, and other organizations.

• Cryptographic security

  Entrust post-quantum cryptography solutions

  Security technologies and services addressing cryptographic migration and protection against future quantum-computing threats. They extend Entrust's existing focus on keys, certificates, encryption, and trust infrastructure.

• 2024

  Browser distrust decisions affecting Entrust certificate roots

  Google Chrome and Mozilla announced restrictions on trust for newly issued TLS certificates chaining to Entrust and AffirmTrust roots. The decisions followed concerns in the browser-root-program context and materially affected Entrust's public certificate authority business. Previously issued certificates were treated differently under the announced policies.

  Source

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• 2025

  Entrust exits the public certificate authority businessStrategy

  Background

  Browser trust decisions in 2024 affected the treatment of newly issued TLS certificates chaining to Entrust and AffirmTrust roots.

  Action taken

  Entrust sold its public certificate authority business to Sectigo in January 2025 while retaining private and managed PKI and other security businesses.

  Aftermath

  Public-certificate customers were migrated to Sectigo's platform, while Entrust continued as a provider of identity, cryptographic, issuance, and private-trust technologies.

  Source

• 2025

  Entrust announces chief executive successionOther

  Background

  The company announced a planned leadership transition as it continued its identity-security and digital-trust strategy.

  Action taken

  Entrust named Tony Ball as successor to Todd Wilkinson, with the transition scheduled for March 31, 2026.

  Aftermath

  Tony Ball is expected to lead Entrust following the effective transition date.

  Source

• 2024

  Entrust completes Onfido acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Entrust was expanding from authentication and credential security into digital identity proofing and fraud prevention.

  Action taken

  Entrust completed its acquisition of Onfido in April 2024.

  Aftermath

  Onfido's identity-verification capabilities became part of Entrust's broader identity-security portfolio.

  Source

• 2020

  Entrust adopts a unified digital-trust brandStrategy

  Background

  Following years of integration, the company aimed to present its issuance, identity, cryptography, and authentication businesses as one security platform.

  Action taken

  Entrust Datacard rebranded as Entrust and changed its legal entity name to Entrust Corporation.

  Aftermath

  The Entrust name became the principal global identity for the combined company.

  Source

• 2013

  Datacard combines with EntrustM&A

  Background

  Datacard sought to combine its secure card and identity-document issuance business with Entrust's PKI, authentication, and digital-security technology.

  Action taken

  Datacard acquired Entrust from Thoma Bravo and subsequently operated the combined business under the Entrust Datacard name.

  Aftermath

  The transaction created a broader provider spanning physical credential issuance and digital trust services.

  Source

1. 1Entrusten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Entrust official websiteentrust.com