VeriSign and EDUCAUSE Team Up to Provide Higher
Education Community with World-Class Security Solutions
Agreement Enables EDUCAUSE Institutional Members to Purchase VeriSign
Security Solutions at Discounted Prices
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA. – August 16, 2005 – VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:
VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for
the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced that it
has formed an agreement with EDUCAUSE which allows their institutional
(non-corporate) members to purchase VeriSign® Managed Public Key Infrastructure
(PKI) services at a discounted price. Other VeriSign security services,
such as VeriSign® Unified Authentication and VeriSign® Managed Security
Services (MSS) will also be offered through the program. EDUCAUSE is
a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology. This agreement inaugurates
the EDUCAUSE Identity Management Services Program (IMSP).
“Higher education has a critical need to improve identity
management as we move more of our core processes—learning, research
and service—to the Internet,” said Mark Luker, vice president, EDUCAUSE.
“EDUCAUSE is pleased to offer this program as a way to help our institutional
members to address long-standing problems of identity, privacy and cybersecurity.”
According to an October, 2004 survey of higher education
institutions’ information-technology security practices conducted by
Gartner, Inc. and The Chronicle of Higher Education, 57 percent of respondents
said their IT budgets had declined or were flat in 2004. Additionally,
within the previous 12 months of the survey date, a significant number
of respondents noted their institution suffered from IT security attacks:
- 53% experienced
denial-of-service attacks.
- 41% noted that their
systems were compromised.
- 14% suffered unauthorized
access to student data.
In response to the higher education community’s desire
to manage the costs of IT infrastructure and find new solutions, EDUCAUSE
developed the IMSP service. Under the program, the nearly 1,700 EDUCAUSE
institutional members can take advantage of discounted pricing and customized
purchasing of VeriSign Managed PKI Services. Prior to the program’s
establishment, EDUCAUSE institutional members were not able to purchase
vendors’ security solutions at a discounted rate.
“With the IT world’s increased emphasis on security,
accountability and auditability,” said Clair Goldsmith, associate vice
chancellor and CIO, University of Texas System, “we are increasingly
using encryption and identity validation through digital certificates
to meet customer and regulatory demands for providing safe and reliable
services. The EDUCAUSE IMSP service, inaugurated with the VeriSign agreement,
will provide colleges and universities with more affordable methods
for integrating advanced security solutions within their existing network
infrastructures.”
Many universities and colleges are plagued with the
challenge of preventing unwanted access to networks, particularly malicious
sites which are hosted on open and vulnerable university networks. VeriSign
Managed PKI services address this problem by using an easier, more ubiquitous
universal authentication solution. Enterprises can control the issuance
of digital certificates to internal and external users as well as allow
only authenticated users to securely access email, networks, VPN, extranets,
portals and other applications.
EDUCAUSE institutional members will also be offered
additional VeriSign products and services such as VeriSign Unified Authentication
and VeriSign
Managed Security Services through the program. VeriSign Unified
Authentication consists of a comprehensive software and services platform
coupled with VeriSign multi-purpose authentication tokens, which feature
One Time Password (OTP), PKI and smartcard functionality. VeriSign Unified
Authentication integrates with an enterprise’s existing IT infrastructure,
enabling organizations to address all strong authentication needs with
a single solution.
VeriSign Managed Security Services, which include
Managed Intrusion Prevention and Managed Intrusion Detection, provides
around-the-clock management and monitoring, real-time security intelligence,
global infrastructure as well as a staff of 24/7 security experts to
manage complex network security threats. By leveraging intelligent infrastructure,
VeriSign provides unmatched security, reliability, interoperability
and scalable deployment—all within an economically efficient business
model.
“The commercial and public sectors have long focused
on improving identity management and fostering good Internet security
hygiene,” said George Schu, vice president, Strategic Development, VeriSign.
“In our collaboration with EDUCAUSE, VeriSign will assist the higher
education community in adopting better identity management practices
to manage today’s security and privacy challenges.”
For more information about EDUCAUSE IMSP and VeriSign
participation in this service, please visit www.educause.edu/imsp.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN) operates intelligent infrastructure services
that enable businesses and individuals to find, connect, secure and
transact across today’s complex global networks. Additional news and
information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
About EDUCAUSE
EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher
education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.
The current membership comprises more than 1,900 colleges, universities
and educational organizations, including 200 corporations, with 15,000
active members. EDUCAUSE has offices in Boulder, Colorado, and Washington,
D.C. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.
For more information, contact:
VeriSign Media Relations: Jennifer Schmidt, jschmidt@verisign.com,
703-948-4475
VeriSign Investor Relations: Tom McCallum, tmccallum@verisign.com,
650-426-3744
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 the inability of VeriSign to
successfully develop and market new products and services and customer
acceptance of any new products or services, including VeriSign's External
Certificate Authority program, the possibility that VeriSign’s announced
new services may not result in additional customers, profits or revenues;
and increased competition and pricing pressures. 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, 2004 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.
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