Multitrade S.p.A Chooses Baltimore Technologies Award Winning E-Security Technology to Enable Secure Online Trading in Italian Market

Business Wire, August 30, 2000

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

MILAN, Italy--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 30, 2000

Baltimore Technologies Offers a Comprehensive E-security Solution for

End-to-End Security and Non-Repudiation of Orders for Multitrade

Service Customers

Baltimore Technologies (NASDAQ:BALT)(London:BLM), a global leader in e-security solutions, today announced that Multitrade S.p.A, a joint venture between the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper group and Cedacrinord, has selected Baltimore UniCERT, the company's award winning Certificate Management system, to provide the infrastructure necessary for a secure, trusted online trading platform.

Using Baltimore UniCERT, Multitrade will enable banks, financial institutions and enterprises in Italy to conduct secure high-value online stock trading. Through the use of digital certificate technology, Multitrade's customers including Italy's key banks such as Banca dell'Umbria; Banca di Sassari; Banca Monte Parma; and Banca Nazionale Dell'Agricoltura can now explore new cost effective, efficient means of conducting day-to-day business. The system has been designed to offer optimum reliability and efficiency, while ensuring authentication, integrity, confidence and non-repudiation of transactions and communication.

"Baltimore's e-security technology, with support from Context Systems Group, allowed us deploy a complete PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) enabled application respecting the delivery date and the service performance required," said Luca Ceresa, Project Manager, Multitrade. "The unique, scalable architecture of Baltimore UniCERT addressed not only our technical specifications, but also supported our short and long term business needs. Most importantly, its transparent provision of confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation facilitated the easy adoption of e-security technology by our banks for secure e-business applications."

"Such leading edge technology allows us to offer a flexible, secure and trusted e-security solution for the Italian online trading market," added Alberto Zambolin, CEO of Multitrade.

"Baltimore's flexible, scalable and interoperable digital certificate technology enables Multitrade to conform to strict industry standards and fully comply with the Authority For the Computerisation in the Public Adminitration (AIPA)," commented Robert Legge, Director, Business Development, Europe at Baltimore Technologies.

In 1997, Italy became one of the first European countries to put in place digital signature legislation, making electronic signatures as legal and binding as written signatures on paper. Using Baltimore UniCERT and e-security products, companies like Multitrade can issue digital certificates to customers with minimal capital investment. This ensures the authenticity, integrity, non-reputability, and confidentiality of electronically transmitted documents and business-to-business transactions.

About Multitrade S.p.A

Multitrade is a joint venture between IlSole24ore and Cedacrinord. Multitrade is the multi-bank online trading service that allows shares to be bought and sold in real time through the bank. Microsoft is a technological partner of Multitrade's.

About IlSole24ore

IlSole24ore is the leading Italian publishing company for economic, legislative and financial information for over one hundred years. It has the highest circulation of any financial newspaper in Europe with a website that has over 4 million 'hits' per day, the highest number in Italy.

About Cedacrinord

Founded in 1976 by five banks, Cedacrinord is now the service provider for over 80 banks. It has 25 years experience in hosting services, and has strongly invested in technology, making it Italy's leading financial hosting service.

About Baltimore UniCERT

Baltimore UniCERT is an award winning certificate management system, used in e-security solutions to provide full strength security for a wide range of e-business and enterprise systems. UniCERT provides key management, authentication and non-repudiation of electronic transactions for financial services, governments, healthcare and e-service providers in over 40 countries worldwide.

About Baltimore Technologies

Baltimore Technologies develops, markets and manages security products and services to enable companies to develop trusted, secure systems for e-business, the Internet and mobile commerce. Its products include a wide range of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) products and services, wireless e-security solutions, cryptographic tool-kits, security applications and hardware cryptographic devices. Baltimore's global team of professionals offers a wide variety of consulting, training and deployment support to its customers worldwide. Baltimore Technologies markets and sells its solutions directly and through the TrustedWorld(tm) Channel program. TrustedWorld includes many of the world's leading technology companies and a wide variety of global, regional and local business alliance partners.

Baltimore Technologies employs over 730 people worldwide and operates from over 28 cities with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland; London, UK; Boston, USA and Sydney, Australia. Baltimore Technologies plc is a public company with dual listings on NASDAQ (BALT) and the London Stock Exchange (BLM).