News & Events

VeriSign Announces Anti-Phishing Solution to Protect Against Rapidly Rising Identity Theft and Email Fraud Attacks

New Solution Includes Comprehensive Set of Services to Protect, Detect and Respond to Phishing Attacks

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA., June 28, 2004 - VeriSign, Inc., (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced the launch of its Anti-Phishing Solution, a comprehensive security solution to protect against the increasingly prevalent security and fraud attack known as phishing. VeriSign's Anti-Phishing Solution protects enterprises through a five-tiered solution that helps prevent, detect and respond to attacks, thereby mitigating and eliminating identity theft and email fraud attempts.  
 
Phishing attacks use social engineering tactics to convince consumers to submit sensitive information, such as account numbers, passwords or social security numbers, to Web sites or e-mail addresses that appear to be legitimate. However, these sites are actually clever forgeries run by hackers or criminal organizations. In the last year, phishing attacks targeted 57 million Internet users. On average, three to five percent of all individuals who received a phishing e-mail fell victim to the fraud, representing huge financial and reputation exposures for the financial institutions, e-commerce sites, hospitals and other organizations whose customers are usually the targets of such attacks. Preventing such attacks is extremely difficult, as it requires the ability not only to monitor activity within an enterprise's IT environment, but also to monitor activity across the Internet as a whole.  
 
"Enterprises, including financial institutions, e-tailers and online auctioneers, have invested millions of dollars in their e-commerce presence, which serves as a key means to generate revenue and interaction with their customers," said Judy Lin, executive vice president, VeriSign Security Services. "However, the rise in phishing attacks targeted at their customers can damage their brand and reputation. VeriSign's Anti-Phishing Solution allows enterprises to preserve customer trust and loyalty by providing a comprehensive, proven solution to prevent and mitigate phishing attacks."  
 
The VeriSign Anti-Phishing Solution takes advantage of a number of services that are already providing positive results for VeriSign customers. The solution is comprised of the following five elements:

• Prevention - VeriSign provides consulting services to help organizations create policy and educational programs, assess processes and vulnerabilities, and take the necessary steps to manage and respond to phishing attacks. VeriSign's phishing prevention process also includes the deployment of strong authentication services, which inhibit phishers from using captured data to gain access to customer accounts and other restricted information.
• Detection - VeriSign leverages several services to detect potential phishing activities taking place outside an enterprise's network, including brand management services, domain name monitoring, Web crawlers and spam filters. Through these tools, VeriSign can monitor the Internet for "cousin" Web sites and other brand abuse practices.
• Response - VeriSign provides 24x7 support to take action against a phishing attacks, once identified. By taking advantage of close relationships with ISPs and other hosting organizations, VeriSign e-commerce fraud investigators seek to work together with such organizations to shut down a phishing site in the shortest amount of time possible.
• Forensics - VeriSign utilizes sophisticated analysis and identification techniques to assess and mitigate the damage caused by phishing attacks, leveraging both the company's extensive domain name and directory expertise, and its security incident response and computer forensics capabilities.
• Reporting - VeriSign provides ongoing incident validation and investigative progress and trend reporting, thus arming enterprises with the knowledge to adjust their prevention measures in preparation for future phishing attacks.

"Worm and virus code writers now write sophisticated social engineering attacks. These attackers are now motivated by financial gain, rather than by widespread notoriety," said Chris Christiansen, program vice president for IDC's Security Products program. "Phishing is at the forefront and a growing concern for many customers, because it is starting to affect many users and the on-line firms with whom they do business. VeriSign is using its robust infrastructure to build new protection services that help companies avoid the perpetuation of phishing frauds and the associated waves of identity theft."  
 
Through the Anti-Phishing Solution, customers gain faster detection and remediation of incidents, improved and cost-effective 24x7 response capabilities, proactive monitoring and prevention, as well as access to a wealth of security expertise. Additionally, VeriSign Anti-Phishing Solution clients can concentrate on reaping the benefits of their e-commerce infrastructure investments by maintaining customer confidence in conducting transactions online.  
 
VeriSign's Anti-Phishing Solutions are available beginning June 28, 2004. For more information, please go to http://www.verisign.com/verisign-business-solutions/anti-phishing-solutions/.  
 
About VeriSign 
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), delivers critical infrastructure services that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable and secure. Every day, VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.com.  
 
For more information, contact: 
VeriSign Media Relations: Karen McGuirk, kmcguirk@verisign.com, 781-577-6625 
VeriSign Investor Relations: Kathleen Bare, kbare@verisign.com, 650-426-3241  
 
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others; the ability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new services and customer acceptance of any new services, including VeriSign's Anti-Phising Solution; the risk that VeriSign's announced strategic relationships may not result in additional products, services, customers and revenues; increased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.