News Release

VeriSign Joins Cisco Enterprise Security Alliance

Cisco to OEM Digital ID Technology from VeriSign
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Feb 24, 1997



Mountain View, CA -- February 24, 1997 -- Cisco Systems andVeriSign today announced VeriSign has joined Cisco's Enterprise SecurityAlliance. Cisco will be integrating and reselling customized VeriSignDigital IDSM technology and services to provide scalable CertificateAuthority (CA) capabilities for its Enterprise Security framework.

"Digital certificates are an emerging strategic technology for networkproof-of-identity," said Alex Mendez, vice president of enterprisemarketing for Cisco Systems. "We recognize VeriSign as the market leaderin digital authentication, with a proven scalable architecture that wecan rely on. We are pleased to provide our customers VeriSign technologyas part of our security product offering."

"Network-level authentication will become a key component of enterprisesolutions being built with Internet protocols," said Stratton Sclavos,president and CEO of VeriSign. "By working with Cisco, the clear leaderin internetworking products and services, we can extend the use of ourDigital ID technology to an exciting array of new network applicationsand services."

VeriSign and Cisco are jointly defining and building a range of productsand services to be marketed through Cisco's distribution channels. Thecompanies plan to make specific product announcements at a later date.

VeriSign Digital IDs

Digital IDs use today's strongest cryptographic techniques available toprovide a trusted means of authenticating the identity of each party inan electronic transaction. VeriSign's Digital IDs are used much the sameway as conventional forms of identification, such as a driver's licenseor passport, to provide evidence of the owner's identity and, in somecases, authority in a given transaction. A Digital ID is issued byVeriSign, the trusted third party which appropriately verifies theidentity of an individual or entity according to the Digital ID's levelof assurance.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. is the world's leading Internet Certification Authority,the trusted third party that authenticates, issues and manages digitalcertificates on the Internet. VeriSign Digital ID's enable trustedelectronic commerce by authenticating the individuals, organizations andcontent involved in an electronic transaction. VeriSign has issued itsbranded Digital IDs to more than 15,000 Web sites, 600,000 individualsand is delivering customized Digital ID solutions to corporationsworldwide including Novus Services, Toppan Printing and VisaInternational. VeriSign, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., wasfounded in April 1995. The company is privately held and has been fundedby strategic industry partners including Ameritech, AT&T, Cisco,Comcast, First Data, GemPlus, Intuit, Microsoft, Reuters, RSA, SecurityDynamics, Softbank, and Visa.

Copyright(C) 1997 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. VeriSign is atrademark of VeriSign, Inc. Digital ID and Digital ID Center areservicemarks of VeriSign, Inc. All other servicemarks/trademarks areproperty of their respective owners.

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News andinformation are available at http://www.cisco.com.

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Cisco IOS and Cisco Systems are trademarks, and Cisco and theCisco logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. All othertrademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered servicemarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respectiveowners.