Technology Pioneers Dr. Vinton G. Cerf and
Dr. Martin E. Hellman Join VeriSign Scientific Advisory Board
Internet and Encryption Visionaries to Help Guide Company Into the Future
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - February 19, 2008 - VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:
VRSN), the leading provider of Internet infrastructure for the networked
world, today announced that two of technology's most accomplished and
recognized innovators have agreed to serve on its newly formed Scientific
Advisory Board.
Vint Cerf is often called "one of the fathers
of the Internet." While an assistant professor at Stanford University,
he, along with Robert Kahn, invented the TCP-IP protocol suite, which
is the foundation of the operational Internet. Dr. Cerf followed up
that work with decades of innovation and leadership with the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and respectively as a vice-president
(1982-1986) and senior vice-president (1994-2005) at MCI, and also as
Chairman of both the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and ICANN. He
has received much recognition for his contributions, including the Turing
Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He earned his Ph.D. at
UCLA and has been awarded over a dozen honorary degrees from universities
around the world. He has worked as Google's vice-president and Chief
Internet Evangelist since 2005.
In the 1980s Dr. Cerf and VeriSign founder Jim Bidzos
worked together - Bidzos as then Chief Executive of RSA Data Security,
Inc., and Dr. Cerf as Chairman of IAB – to develop Internet standards
for design and use of digital certificates, employing public-key encryption
and digital signatures.
Dr. Cerf said, "Security and trust are increasingly
important attributes needed in the Internet environment. VeriSign also
operates some of the largest domain name systems on the Internet as
well as two of its root server systems. 2008 will see the introduction
of the new IP version 6 protocols and internationalized domain names
on the Internet - two of the biggest changes in the Internet's architecture
in the last 25 years. I look forward to helping VeriSign identify opportunities
to contribute to these and other areas of the Internet's feature space."
Dr. Martin Hellman is Professor Emeritus of Electrical
Engineering at Stanford University, where he also received a master's
degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He was also an assistant
professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is, along with
Ralph Merkle and Whitfield Diffie, the co-inventor of public-key cryptography while
on the faculty of Stanford University in the mid-1970s. He has made
numerous contributions to the field of cryptography and has received
many awards for his work, including the Marconi International Fellow
Award, the National Computer Systems Security Award, and the Electronic
Frontier Foundation's Pioneer Award.
Dr. Hellman said, "I'll never forget visiting
Jim back in 1991, when he was president of RSA Data Security, and his
telling me how he'd managed to get a root certificate built into a variety
of systems, including Microsoft Windows. He then told me about his idea
for a new company that would finally implement the brilliant concept
of digital certificates. That idea was the genesis of VeriSign.
It was nice to be in on the birth of the company, and I look forward
to helping nurture its further growth."
VeriSign founder and Chairman Jim Bidzos said, "The
Internet is no longer an experiment or a research and educational tool.
The secure global network envisioned by these scientists is here; using
Dr. Cerf's protocol, VeriSign links users with domains billions of times
per day, and using technology co-invented by Dr. Hellman, secures those links
over 100 million times per day. VeriSign is now in the process of scaling
up these capabilities to the next level. I've known both of these distinguished
technology pioneers for over 20 years and have worked with them on the
standards and technology that contributed so much to the creation of
this company. It's exciting to be working with them again."
Bill Roper, VeriSign CEO, said, "We are focused
entirely on products and services that drive the global Internet infrastructure,
so we could not be more pleased to be associated with these accomplished,
recognized innovators. As VeriSign grows with the Internet, the
guidance of these visionaries will be invaluable."
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), operates digital infrastructure services
that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the
world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and information
about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
Trademarks
VeriSign, and other trademarks, service marks, and logos are registered
or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign and its subsidiaries in the United
States and in foreign countries.
Copyright © 2008 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more information, contact:
VeriSign Corporate Communications: Lisa Malloy, emalloy@verisign.com,
730-948-4361
VeriSign Investor Relations: Nancy Fazioli, ir@verisign.com,
650 426-5416
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