Every so often major players in EDI have business improvement initiatives that impact EDI standards, communications, industry initiatives, or technology deployment. These initiatives often have a ripple effect across the Supply Chain impacting an entire block of trading partners in an industry. These initiatives can be mandated upgrades to a given X12 EDI standard version, industry initiatives related to data synchronization and GS1, RFID technology deployed in conjunction with EDI, or communications protocol, encryption, and certificate changes such as that found in SHA-2 implementation.
SHA-2 (also referenced as SHA-256) is the latest cryptographic hash function that will be replacing SHA-1 as found in AS2 and SSL certificates, due to the increased security protection that it provides. Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft are driving the change (SSL) along with Walmart and other big players in the EDI world (AS2).
Depending on how you are using SHA-1 and are impacted by SHA-256 implementation requirements, your deadline may be approaching. Be sure your communications software supports SHA-256.
REMEDI has helped clients upgrade and patch their communication solutions to support SHA-256. In some instances this can be an unexpected undertaking requiring some time and planning. We recently helped one client upgrade from IBM B2B Integrator V5.2.4.2 to V5.2.6.3 to fully and reliably support an upcoming Walmart SHA-256 2018 deadline.
Contact REMEDI for more information.
