GeoTrust Accelerates SSL Market Share Gains

Leader in Trust Solutions Leveraging 2nd-Generation Technology

December 5, 2001 - BOSTON, MA. - GeoTrust, Inc.(www.geotrust.com), a leader in trust solutions for the Internet security infrastructure, increased its share of the SSL digital certificates market at an impressive rate of more than 13 percent monthly according to the latest Secure Server Survey (October 2001) conducted by Netcraft, Ltd. (www.netcraft.com).

At the same time, Netcraft reports that the overall SSL market remains strong with overall market growth at about 100 percent annually.

According to Netcraft, GeoTrust's position in the SSL digital certificates market is second only to VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN). GeoTrust's leadership position in this market was firmly established with its recent acquisition of the digital certificates business of Equifax Secure, Inc., the e-commerce division of Equifax Inc.

"Clearly, GeoTrust is gaining momentum in the SSL market," said GeoTrust CEO Neal Creighton. "We are particularly pleased with signs that the market is beginning to recognize the superiority of our second-generation Web trust solution based on QuickSSL and True Site."

True Site, the World's first smart identity seal, utilizes patent-pending "smart icon" technology to provide transparent no-click site identity verification and one-click credentials verification. This unique identity trust solution enables the partitioning of transaction security, such as protecting the credit card information sent to the merchant, from identity trust -- for example, verifying merchant identity. It also enables GeoTrust to reduce certificate provisioning times from the industry average four days to less than 10 minutes with QuickSSL.

"I've bought QuickSSL certificates from (GeoTrust) over the last month and I am still marveling over how much easier the process is," said Salvatore Milia, CTO of Vancouver, Canada-based Backbone Technology Inc. "I can get 30-minute turnaround times on my Web-based order. I'm sure anyone who has suffered through the VeriSign/ Thawte order process will appreciate what a huge improvement that is."

Creighton said the prospects for GeoTrust continue to be excellent. "Security is an increasingly significant concern for today's businesses, so our sales have remained strong despite recent economic belt-tightening," he said. "And, of course, everyone appreciates getting real value for their money, which is exactly what GeoTrust delivers."

About GeoTrust, Inc.

GeoTrust, Inc.(www.geotrust.com), a leader in trust solutions for the Internet security infrastructure, is paving the way to a new world of trust and business opportunity. GeoTrust's second-generation Internet trust solutions, based on breakthrough identity trust and world-class digital certificate technologies, enable Web sites, enterprises and individuals to safely exploit the Internet.