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VeriSign Ahead of Pack for HSPD-12 Readiness
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA., June 21, 2006 — VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, announced today that its Shared Service Provider (SSP) Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) was the first service to be certified under the General Services Administration (GSA)-managed FIPS 201 Evaluation Program. The FIPS 201 certification enables VeriSign to provide PKI services for Federal agencies needing to comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), or the government smart card initiative.
“This evaluation and certification process enables VeriSign to expand its already significant work with the Federal government,” said George Schu, vice president for VeriSign. “We are pleased to be the first SSP to be certified as FIPS 201-compliant by GSA, and believe this further demonstrates VeriSign’s commitment to providing highly secure and stable systems for its government customers.”
The VeriSign SSP PKI is the first of 90 products and services submitted to-date to the GSA to be certified as FIPS 201-compliant. Successful completion of the GSA-managed FIPS 201 evaluation acknowledges that the VeriSign SSP PKI fully complies with the requirements specified in FIPS 201 and the X.509 Federal Common Policy.
In February 2004, the Federal Identity Credentialing Committee (FICC) established requirements and a process for the certification of vendors to provide PKI and smart card issuing services for Federal agencies. The FICC specified a common identity credential to be used by Federal employees for both physical and logical access to Federal facilities and IT systems. The hierarchical PKI model with vendor-supplied Certificate Authorities (CA) services specified by the Federal government for SSP is identical to the managed PKI model that VeriSign has been delivering for nearly 10 years to its government and commercial enterprise customers around the world.
In July 2004 VeriSign was the first SSP certified by the FICC. Now with the additional GSA FIPS 201 certification, Federal agencies can be assured that, not only can VeriSign provide all the mandatory and optional certificate types defined in FIPS 201, but that the VeriSign SSP PKI and associated validation services are being delivered by a highly scalable, reliable and secure infrastructure unmatched in the industry.
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About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN),
operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect
billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice and data
networks. Additional news and information about the company is available
at www.verisign.com.
Contacts
VeriSign Media Relations: Brian O’Shaughnessy, boshaughnessy@verisign.com,
650- 426-5270
VeriSign Investor Relations: Tom McCallum, tmccallum@verisign.com,
650-426-3744
Trademarks
VeriSign and other trademarks, service marks and logos are registered
or unregistered marks of VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the
United States and in foreign countries. Copyright © 2006 VeriSign, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Forward-Looking Statement
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties
that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from
those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential
risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future
revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating
results due to such factors as increasing competition and pricing pressure
from competing services offered at prices below our prices and market
acceptance of our existing services, the inability of VeriSign to successfully
develop and market new services and the uncertainty of whether new services
as provided by VeriSign will achieve market acceptance or result in
any revenues. More information about potential factors that could affect
the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the
company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2005 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation
to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this
press release.