GeoTrust Continues to Gain Momentum as Provider of SSL Certificates

Netcraft Research Shows Second Largest Certificate Authority’s
Installed Base of SSL Certificates has Grown 125% Year-over-Year

WELLESLEY, Mass.— October 25, 2004 — GeoTrust, Inc., a leader in identity verification solutions for e-business and the world’s second largest issuer of SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates for web security, today cited a September 2004 Netcraft survey that shows GeoTrust’s installed base of SSL certificates has grown by 125% year-over-year. During the same September 2003 to September 2004 period, according to Netcraft, the overall market for SSL certificates experienced growth of 53%. GeoTrust also reported that a record number of client and SSL certificates were issued during the month of September.

“GeoTrust continues its phenomenal growth -- due not only to a market that is ripe for identity verification solutions -- but because we have the industry’s best certificate issuance process and a highly regarded brand,” stated Neal Creighton, founder and CEO of GeoTrust. “The demand for our products validates customers’ needs for an alternative to VeriSign’s costly and time-consuming certificate offerings. It’s not surprising that we have surpassed them as the number one brand for SSL certificates in North America.”

GeoTrust’s patent-pending domain control vetting has revolutionized the certificate issuance process. Its QuickSSL® product line offers industry-leading 128-bit encryption with certificates issued in 10 minutes or less, against competitors’ hours or days. And GeoTrust’s branded seals, which are displayed on tens of thousands of web sites worldwide, convey to consumers that the site has been verified by a leading certificate authority and is safe for the exchange of confidential data. GeoTrust markets its products via its retail site, a direct sales force and a large network of web hosting companies and resellers.

“We expect our web security business to continue to grow rapidly as more businesses implement e-commerce solutions and more consumers choose to buy only from sites they can clearly trust,” stated Tom Cunningham, founder and CEO of BulkRegister, a GeoTrust reseller and the world's leading B2B domain name registrar. “Through an API that allows us to seamlessly integrate with their system, GeoTrust has made the process of selling and issuing SSL certificates easy for us and, more importantly, for our resellers and their customers.”

GeoTrust offers a full line of digital certificates for identity verification, including client certificates for secure access, SSL certificates for e-commerce and web services security, code signing certificates for software developers and the recently announced certified signing solution for Adobe® Acrobat®. Its customers include the world’s largest hosting companies, Global 1000 companies, educational institutions and government agencies worldwide.

About GeoTrust, Inc.
GeoTrust is a leader in identity verification and trust services for e-business. Its products include web security services for secure e-commerce transactions, identity verification, managed security services and TrustWatch (www.trustwatch.com), a free toolbar and search site that helps consumers recognize whether a site has been verified and is safe for the exchange of confidential information. With more than 70,000 companies in over 140 countries using its technology for online security, GeoTrust has rapidly become the second largest digital certificate provider in the world. Visit www.geotrust.com or call 800-944-0492 for more information.

About Netcraft
Netcraft is an Internet services company based in Bath, England. It has explored the Internet since 1995 and is a respected authority on the market share of web servers, operating systems, hosting providers, ISPs, encrypted transactions, electronic commerce, scripting languages and content technologies on the internet. For additional information, visit www.netcraft.com.

GeoTrust and QuickSSL are registered trademarks of GeoTrust, Inc. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners