News & Events

Northern Trust Selects VeriSign® Identity Protection

Leading provider of financial management services for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide turns to VeriSign to strengthen online identity protection and meet regulatory guidelines

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA., October 25, 2006 – VeriSign, Inc., (NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of intelligent infrastructure for the networked world, today announced that Northern Trust, a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide, has chosen VeriSign® Identity Protection (VIP) Fraud Detection Service and VeriSign Unified Authentication Service to protect the identities and information of their online clients.

“Our selection of VeriSign's internet security capabilities represents an extension of our commitment to provide clients with a secure environment in which they can conduct their financial affairs,” said Peter Ruegsegger, senior vice president for Northern Trust.  “We are pleased that VeriSign is able to provide a comprehensive and flexible set of solutions that will span our commercial, institutional and personal client segments. We are confident that VeriSign’s innovative security products and technology will not only help us meet our regulatory requirements but will also meet the increasingly sophisticated security needs of our clients.”

VIP Fraud Detection Service (FDS) employs advanced anomaly detection technology to provide risk-based authentication and fraud detection, keeping the consumer user experience the same until potentially fraudulent activity is detected. The VIP FDS risk engine enables financial institutions to utilize user behavior, device and network characteristics, geographic information and fraud intelligence to establish the identity of the user in addition to the username and password. VIP FDS can also verify the identity of the user via in-band and out-of-band intervention mechanisms such as an automated phone call or SMS message. VIP FDS leverages VeriSign’s extensive experience dealing with fraud on a global scale operating the intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice and data networks.

VeriSign’s Unified Authentication is a two factor authentication solution that leverages VeriSign’s hosted infrastructure to enable an easy to deploy security solution for protecting consumer identities.  Enterprises that rely today on username and password alone are layering this two factor solution to better identify consumers that are transacting online.  VeriSign’s Unified Authentication is based on the open standards supported by the initiative for open authentication organization (OATH), which provides interoperability for multiple security credentials including stand alone tokens, phones, and desktops.

“We are extremely proud that Northern Trust has chosen VeriSign to protect the high-net worth assets of corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide, further validating VeriSign’s layered approach to authentication and fraud detection,” said Nico Popp, vice president, Authentication Services for VeriSign. “With over 10 years experience providing consumer authentication solutions to clients worldwide including the top 40 banks, VeriSign understands the needs of financial institutions. By selecting VIP, Northern Trust is getting a comprehensive identity protection solution.”

About VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) 
VeriSign Identity Protection is a comprehensive suite of identity protection and authentication services designed to strengthen and protect consumers' digital identities.  The suite of services combines two-factor authentication with fraud detection to offer a comprehensive identity protection solution that helps manage reputation risk for financial services, e-commerce companies, or enterprises that digitally interact with consumers' personal data.

For more information on VIP, please go to: http://www.verisign.com/dm/vip

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

About Northern Trust 
Northern Trust Corporation is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a multi-bank holding company based in Chicago, has a growing network of 84 offices in 18 U.S. states and has international offices in 12 locations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. As of June 30, 2006, Northern Trust had assets under custody of $3.2 trillion, and assets under investment management of $640 billion. Northern Trust, founded in 1889, has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining high-touch service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit http://www.northerntrust.com. 

For more information, contact:  
VeriSign Media Relations: Monisha Khanna, mkhanna@verisign.com, 650-426-4522. 
VeriSign Investor Relations: Nancy Fazioli, ir@verisign.com.

# # #

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 risk that VeriSign's announced strategic relationships, including the relationship described herein, may not result in additional products, services, 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, 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.