Press Release

TERENA Awards Contract to GlobalSign for a Managed SSL Solution

London, UK - 25 January, 2006 - GlobalSign Ltd (www.globalsign.co.uk), a subsidiary of Cybertrust®, the global information security specialist, has been awarded a contract by the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association (TERENA) to deploy a managed SSL solution. The solution will provide TERENA's members with proven certificate verification processes and procedures, accredited Certificate Authority capabilities and a consistent and flexible solution to issue high volumes of SSL server certificates.

TERENA provides a platform to encourage the development of a high-quality computer networking infrastructure for the European research community. TERENA's principal members are European National Research and Education Networking organisations (NRENs) that represent the academic community in their countries. An increased use of SSL server certificates at the NRENs and their user communities, in combination with a growing need for encrypted channels and the introduction of authentication and authorization solutions, encouraged TERENA to investigate a global solution to meet an increasing demand for SSL server certificates and a technology to address security issues such as phishing and other forms of identity fraud.

TERENA will utilize Cybertrust's SureServer EDU, an SSL server certificate exclusively for use in educational and research environments. Following training and accreditation procedures, the TERENA NRENs will become Registration Authorities. Cybertrust will deliver an easy-to-use managed service including a Web interface, which enables TERENA Registration Authorities to verify server certificate requests, issue an unlimited number of certificates and manage the entire certificate lifecycle. A total of 5000 SSL server certificates is estimated to be issued by approximately 100 accredited NREN Registration Authority administrators during the course of the first year.

In a first phase, the following NRENs will use Cybertrust's solution: ACOnet (Austria), CARNet (Croatia), CESNET (Czech Republic), RENATER/CRU (France), RedIRIS (Spain), SURFnet (the Netherlands), SWITCH (Switzerland) and UNI·C (Denmark).

"TERENA was looking for a global solution which would enable multiple NRENs to issue and manage server certificates on a large scale," said Karel Vietsch, TERENA secretary general. "We conducted a thorough comparison and evaluation of a number of PKI service solution providers, and Cybertrust came out on top. Additionally, Cybertrust clearly demonstrated the flexibility we were looking for, coupled with a strong understanding of the specific needs of an educational and research environment."

"One of TERENA's main objectives is fostering new initiatives of the European research networking community," said Stijn Bijnens, Cybertrust senior vice president of identity management. "Implementing a security solution on this scale confirms TERENA's commitment to establish a high-quality, secure information and telecommunications infrastructure for the benefit of research and education."

About GlobalSign
Established in 1996 and as a WebTrust accredited public certificate authority, GlobalSign offers publicly trusted SSL, including SSL Certificates, EV SSL, managed SSL services, S/MIME and Code Signing Certificates for use on all platforms including mobile devices. Its Trusted Root solution uses the widely embedded GlobalSign Root CA certificates to provide immediate PKI trust for Microsoft CA and enterprise CAs, eliminating the costs of using untrusted Root Certificates. Its partnership with Adobe to provide Certified Document Services (CDS) enables secure digitally signed PDF documents, certified transcripts and e-invoices.  These core Digital Certificate solutions allow its thousands of authenticated customers to conduct secure online transactions, data transfer, distribution of tamper-proof code, and protection of online identities for secure email and access control.  The company has a history of innovation within the online security industry and has offices in the US, UK, Belgium, Japan, and China. 

GMO Internet Group
GMO Internet Group, headquartered in Japan, is a leading force in the Internet industry offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of Internet services worldwide. The group holds top domestic market share in domain registration, web hosting, and payment processing and provides a host of other Internet services including global online security services, e-commerce solutions, and Internet advertising to both businesses and individuals. At the centre of the group is GMO Internet, Inc. a company listed on the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE: 9449). Please visit www.gmo.jp/en for further details.

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