Intercede Regulatory News (IGP)

26 Jan 2006 10:38

Intercede Group PLC26 January 2006 Intercede Group plc VeriSign to Enhance its Unified Authentication Platform for Governments and Enterprises Worldwide Based on OEM Agreement with Intercede Intercede MyID to provide deep product integration between VeriSign's Unified Authentication platform and best-of-breed smart card and PKI management components Lutterworth, England, January 26, 2006 - Further to Intercede's announcement on12 December 2005 concerning an OEM licensing contract with VeriSign, Inc.,VeriSign has announced it will enhance its strong authentication service withthe introduction of VeriSign Unified Authentication - Smart Cards in the secondquarter of 2006. This extension to the Unified Authentication platform is basedon an OEM agreement with Intercede Group plc, a leading developer of smart cardand identity management software. As part of this agreement, VeriSign licensesMyID technology from Intercede that will allow the company to provide a completeauthentication solution by extending VeriSign's strong authentication platformwith tightly integrated smart cards and PKI components. The full VeriSign press release is attached. About Intercede Intercede Group plc is a leading developer and supplier of smart card andidentity management software listed on the London Stock Exchange (IGP LN)(IGP.L). The Group's MyID software manages the secure registration, issuance andlifecycle of digital identities for a wide range of uses. This requires theintegration of multiple technologies and products from many different vendors,including smart cards, biometrics, digital certificates and Open Platformapplets. Intercede's customers cover a range of industries and include Athena SmartcardSolutions, Department of Transport Ireland, Fujitsu, Lloyds TSB, the UK NationalHealth Service (NHS), the Metropolitan Police, PinkRoccade, Royal Bank ofScotland, Ubizen and various US and UK Government agencies and departments. Formore information, visit www.intercede.com Intercede and MyID are registered trademarks or trademarks in the UK and/orother countries. All other products and services mentioned are trademarks oftheir respective companies. Enquiries:Intercede Group plcTel. +44 (0) 1455 558111Richard Parris - Chairman & Chief ExecutiveAndrew Walker - Finance Director For Immediate Release VeriSign To Enhance Strong Authentication Platform With The Introduction of VeriSign(R) Unified Authentication - Smart Cards Enhancement Will Complete VeriSign Unified Authentication Offering; Providing an Integrated Suite of Smart Card and PKI Management Tools MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA., January 24, 2006 - VeriSign, Inc., (NASDAQ: VRSN), theleading provider of intelligent infrastructure services for Internet andtelecommunications networks, today announced it will enhance its strongauthentication service with the introduction of VeriSign(R) UnifiedAuthentication - Smart Cards in the second quarter of 2006. VeriSign UnifiedAuthentication - Smart Cards will provide enterprises and government agencieswith an integrated, easy-to-use suite of management tools for smart card and PKIdeployments, supporting a wide range of smart card types, workflows anddeployments options. Recently, government and industry regulations have directed agencies andenterprises to employ standardized smart card identification mechanisms fortheir employees and external users. Such directives include the HomelandSecurity Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12, which mandates the issuance and useof common and reliable credentials for all U.S. Federal Government employees andcontractors. In addition, large enterprises are starting to use unified physicaland logical access smart card credentials as a way to reduce the cost, whileincreasing the security of their authentication infrastructures. VeriSign Unified Authentication - Smart Cards will provide a completeauthentication solution by extending VeriSign's strong authentication platformwith tightly integrated smart cards and PKI components, allowing fasterimplementation and a lower cost of ownership. This solution is also accreditedto meet the U.S. Government Shared Service Provider program requirements. "The extension of the VeriSign Unified Authentication platform to support SmartCards represents the next logical step in providing a complete, open-standardsbased authentication service for government agencies and enterprises alike,"said Nico Popp, vice president, Authentication Services, VeriSign SecurityServices. "VeriSign Unified Authentication - Smart Cards will integratebest-of-breed smart card and PKI management components under the same intuitiveinterface, providing the most comprehensive, easy-to-use suite of managementtools that will enable any agency or enterprise to quickly provision, deploy andmanage smart card based strong authentication." VeriSign Unified Authentication provides a single, integrated platform forprovisioning and managing all types of two-factor authentication credentials. Itreduces the cost of deployment by leveraging an enterprise's existinginfrastructure and delivering a flexible, future proof solution built on known,open standards. For more information about VeriSign Unified Authentication - Smart Cards, pleasego to: http://www.verisign.com/products-services/security-services/pki/card-management-system/index.html About VeriSignVeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), operates intelligent infrastructure services thatenable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world's voiceand data networks. Additional news and information about the company isavailable at www.verisign.com For more information, contact:VeriSign Media Relations: Brendan P. Lewis, brlewis@verisign.com, 650-426-4470VeriSign Investor Relations: Tom McCallum, tmccallum@verisign.com, 650-426-3744 Statements in this announcement other than historical data and informationconstitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of theSecurities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign'sactual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by suchforward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, amongothers, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potentialfluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as the inabilityof VeriSign to successfully develop and market new products and services andcustomer acceptance of any new products or services, including VeriSign UnifiedAuthentication - Smart Cards; the possibility that VeriSign's announced newservices may not result in additional customers, profits or revenues; andincreased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potentialfactors that could affect the company's business and financial results isincluded in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year endedDecember 31, 2004 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes noobligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date ofthis press release. # # # This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange