Token and Smart Card Authentication, Coupled With VeriSign's Managed
PKI Service, Provide Enterprises & Carriers with Strong Solutions
to Protect e-Business Applications
Mountain View, CA, October 11, 2001 - VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:
VRSN), the worldwide leader in providing digital trust services, and
ActivCard (Nasdaq:ACTI), the leading provider of smart card and digital
identity provisioning products and technology, today announced a strategic
alliance to deliver seamlessly integrated, strong two-factor authentication
solutions for enterprises, service providers, government agencies and
smart card manufacturers engaged in wire line and wireless e-commerce.
The alliance will combine ActivCard's leading two-factor
authentication solution, which can be embedded in a variety of devices,
with VeriSign's award-winning managed public key infrastructure (PKI)
service. The integrated solution will protect valuable enterprise network
resources, providing maximum assurance that only authorized users can
access corporate e-mail, intranets, extranets and other critical online
resources.
Two-factor authentication is a security method requiring
users to submit two pieces of digital identification for remote access
to a network or business application. Typically, users enter something
they know, like a password, into something they have, such as a handheld
token or smart card, which generate dynamic one-time passwords for secure
network access. Although tokens are adequate for authentication, businesses
are demanding that digital certificates be included as an extra - and
much-needed - layer of security. Digital certificates are electronic
credentials that authenticate end users, generate legally valid "digital
signatures" and enable encrypted communications and transactions.
"As enterprises migrate more of their internal
and external communications and transactions to a digital environment,
the need to maximize trust through strong user authentication continues
to be mission-critical," said Anil Pereira, senior vice president
and group general manager of VeriSign's enterprise and service provider
division. "Combining ActivCard's leading token- and smart card-based
digital identity solution with VeriSign's managed PKI service allows
enterprise customers to implement scalable two-factor authentication
into applications - such as e-procurement, online supply chain management
and remote access - more seamlessly and cost-effectively than ever before."
Under terms of the strategic alliance, VeriSign
will integrate ActivCard's scalable dynamic password authentication
products with VeriSign's personal trust agent (PTA), which provides
"roaming" access to digital certificates from virtually any
Internet-enabled device. ActivCard, meantime, will integrate its smart
card and digital identity provisioning, authentication and lifecycle
management solution with VeriSign's Managed PKI Service. This will seamlessly
combine digital certificate issuance with token and smart card personalization
for enterprises and large service providers. The companies also have
entered into a "preferred provider" arrangement to support
mutual customers worldwide.
"Our alliance with VeriSign significantly expands
our ability to provide next generation solutions for the growing number
of customers looking to secure and protect their online assets,"
said Yves Audebert, president and COO at ActivCard. "Strong identity
is the foundation of all trusted services. Together, we provide confidence
and an even greater level of trust that reaches beyond the traditional
borders of the networking and into our everyday lives."
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN) is leading provider of digital trust
services that enable businesses and consumers to use digital networks
with confidence. Digital trust services create a trusted environment
through three core offerings - Web identity, authentication and payment
services - powered by a global infrastructure that manages more than
5 billion communications and transactions a day. Additional news and
information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
About ActivCard
ActivCard, a leader in digital identity and electronic certification
technology, delivers core components required to enable next generation
e-Business communications and transactions. ActivCard solutions, in
conjunction with the applications support for public key-based data
confidentiality, and integrity, allow individuals and businesses to
perform secure online transactions over the Internet with the ease-of-use
of an ATM transaction. Today, more than 2 million people use ActivCard
products for secure Internet banking, Web access and remote access to
corporate networks. ActivCard has headquarters in Fremont, California,
and Suresnes, France with worldwide operations in Australia, Germany,
Japan, Sweden, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
This press release may contain forward-looking
statements, which reflect management's best judgment based on factors
currently known. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
the statements included in this press release. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date hereof.
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,
VeriSign's limited operating history under its current business structure,
failure of the Illuminet merger to close due to the failure to obtain
regulatory or other approvals; failure of the Illuminet stockholders
to approve the merger; the risk that the VeriSign and Illuminet businesses
will not be integrated successfully and unanticipated costs of such
integration, uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential
fluctuations in quarterly operating results, increased competition,
risks associated with the company's international business and risks
related to potential security breaches. 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,
especially in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2000, Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed on
October 10, 2001 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters
ended March 31 and June 30, 2001. VeriSign undertakes no obligation
to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this
press release. VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign, Inc.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The statements in this press release that
are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with fluctuations
in operating results, international operations, acquisitions and managing
ActivCard's future growth, and other risks identified in ActivCard's
periodic filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission,
including but not limited to those appearing under the caption "Risk
Factors" in ActivCard's annual report on Form 20F. Actual results,
events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date hereof. ActivCard disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts
Media Relations: Dave Berkowitz, dberkowitz@verisign.com,
650-426-4470
Investor Relations: Katie Ochsner, kochsner@verisign.com,
650-426-3512
ActivCard Contact: Rod Stuhlmuller, rstuhlmuller@activcard.com,
510-574-1733
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