SOMERS, N.Y., REDMOND, Wash. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 27, 2002 — IBM, Microsoft Corp., and VeriSign, Inc., today announced they will submit the latest version of the Web Services Security (WS-Security) specification to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) for ongoing development.
The WS-Security specification is one of the first Web services standards to support, integrate and unify multiple security models, mechanisms and technologies, allowing a variety of systems to interoperate in a platform- and language-neutral manner.
Baltimore Technologies, BEA Systems, Cisco Systems, Documentum, Entrust, Inc., Intel Corporation, IONA, Netegrity, Novell, Oblix, OpenNetwork, RSA Security, SAP, Sun Microsystems, and Systinet have all expressed plans to participate in the OASIS development effort.
With this announcement, IBM, Microsoft and VeriSign are furthering their commitment to build and deliver standards-based security solutions that meet customer requirements. The three companies will continue to work together to advance standards-based specifications that will allow for comprehensive Web services security solutions as outlined in the “Security in a Web Services World” road map, which was drafted by IBM and Microsoft in April 2002.
The WS-Security specification, which provides the foundation for that road map, defines a standard set of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) extensions, or message headers, that can be used to implement integrity and confidentiality in Web services applications. Web services are applications that can be accessed through XML and SOAP-based protocols, making them platform- and language-independent. WS-Security provides a foundation layer for secure Web services, laying the groundwork for higher-level facilities such as federation, policy and trust.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the leading provider of digital trust services that enable everyone, everywhere to engage in commerce and communications with confidence. VeriSign’s digital trust services create a trusted environment through four core offerings — Web presence services, security services, payment services, and telecommunications services — powered by a global infrastructure that manages more than six billion network connections and transactions a day. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
About IBM
IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM software offers the widest range of infrastructure software for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM home page at http://www.ibm.com/software/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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: VeriSign’s limited operating history under its current business structure; the risk that VeriSign and its acquired businesses will not be integrated successfully and unanticipated costs of such integration; uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results; failure of the combined company to retain and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees; failure of the combined company to manage its growth and the difficulty of successfully managing a larger, more geographically dispersed organization; failure of the combined company to successfully manage relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic customers; network outages, network capacity constraints or security breaches; failure of the combined company’s customers to accept new services or to continue using the products and services of the combined company; and competition in the various markets serviced by the combined company. 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, especially in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2002. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign, Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
