enCommerce and VeriSign Form Joint Technology and Marketing Agreement to Provide Secure Extranet Access; enCommerce to Integrate VeriSign Digital ID into getAccess Extranet Management Software

Business Wire, Sept 22, 1997

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1997--enCommerce Inc., a start-up venture specializing in extranet management software for business-to-business electronic commerce, and VeriSign, a leading provider of Digital IDs, announced a partnership to bring higher levels of security and flexibility to corporate extranets.

The companies have integrated VeriSign Digital IDs as the default-trusted third-party certificate authority for the English version of enCommerce's getAccess extranet management software.

With its new digital certificate capability, getAccess automatically uses VeriSign Digital IDs to authenticate users accessing a corporate extranet. getAccess is an integrated software environment for user access and resource deployment on the extranet. getAccess is designed to integrate diverse and independent Web resources and application in multi-vendor environments, enabling a single personalized front-end for users , and integrated management of all Web resources and users in the system.

getAccess can scale to support hundreds of thousands of end-users and scores of Web-enabled information resources. enCommerce and VeriSign will also work together on joint marketing programs and in integrating systems for major accounts.

"enCommerce and VeriSign are ideal partners for corporations who are deploying and managing very large extranet sites," said Richard Yanowitch, vice president of marketing for VeriSign Inc.

"By combining the high level of security delivered by VeriSign Digital IDs with an enterprise-class extranet management product such as getAccess, we are able to create a solution that is ready for the most sophisticated, business-critical extranet sites. We believe this announcement will accelerate the deployment of serious extranets within the Fortune 1000."

Access management is a key component of every extranet and business-to-business electronic commerce site. By incorporating VeriSign Digital IDs into getAccess, enCommerce is able to offer its customers the choice of establishing security policies tailored to their needs.

For example, a company may choose to provide transparent access through certificate-only authentication, or a combination of certificates with passwords for added security, or a mixed-mode authentication approach to accommodate roaming users who do not have access to computers where the certificates are stored.

"Digital certificates are a 'must have' for many large organizations as part of their extranet strategy," said Hector Saldaa, vice president of sales and marketing of enCommerce.

"By working with VeriSign, we are able to offer our users more choices to implement security. Many organizations will benefit from incorporating certificates and off-loading the digital certificate management process to a third-party. VeriSign is the clear leader in providing trusted digital certificates, and our customers will value the technology and expertise that they bring."

About VeriSign

VeriSign Inc. is a leading Internet Certification Authority, a trusted third party that authenticates, issues and manages digital certificates on the Internet. VeriSign's Digital IDs enable trusted electronic commerce by authenticating consumers, organizations and content involved in electronic transactions.

VeriSign has issued its IDs to nearly 35,000 Web sites and 1,000,000 consumers who use Netscape and Microsoft Internet products. The company also is delivering customized Digital ID solutions to

Novus, and Visa International.
    VeriSign, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., was founded in
April 1995.  The company, which is a spin-out of RSA Data Security,
is privately held and has been funded by strategic industry partners,
including Ameritech, AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, First Data, Gemplus,
Intuit, Microsoft, Reuters, Security Dynamics, Softbank and Visa.
For more information, please visit the VeriSign Web site at
www.verisign.com .

About enCommerce

    enCommerce Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise-class
software products that dramatically reduce the time and cost of
managing extranets.  enCommerce products enable organizations to move
closer to customers, channels and business partners by providing
personalized services in a secure environment, while increasing
efficiencies and saving costs through integrated management across
users and resources on the extranet.
    getAccess, the company's first commercially available software
product, will be followed by product suites that address the evolving
and complex information needs of organizations, and leverage
state-of-the-art Internet software technologies.
    For more information, refer to the company's Web site at
www.encommerce.com .