AuthentiDate Announces Agreement to Make Authentidate ME Available to Sendmail Users; Sendmail, a Pioneer in Internet Mail, is the Worldwide Leader with 60% Marketshare.

Business & Technology Editors

SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2001

AuthentiDate Holding Corp. ("AHC") (NASDAQ:ADAT) a leading provider of Trusted Content Authentication services, today announced that Sendmail, the worldwide market leader in the area of Internet e-mail server software with 60% market share, will now offer increased security for all e-mail users through centralized digital signatures and certificates using Authentidate ME (known as AuthentiCom in Europe).

Authentidate ME (Mail Edition) was developed by AuthentiDate International AG in Ratingen and is immediately available for all commercial Sendmail users. All companies that use the Sendmail server can now centrally install and administer all PKI functionality such as encryption, decryption, and the signing and verifying of e-mails and their attachments. The data will then be archived through the means of qualified time signatures conforming to the German signature law and the European signature directives. Also, for the first time, a secure time stamp function for incoming and outgoing e-mail is available through the automatic integration of legally secure time signatures using the Authentidate Central Server.

Stephen Schindler of the Sendmail Ltd, Europe management team stated, "This revolutionary implementation of the AuthentiDate technology to centralize e-mail security fits optimally with our e-mail solution. Thus, we can pass on 100% of the competitive advantage to our present and future customers. We have already received strong feedback from several customers and partners."

In comparison with existing PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) solutions that require the installation and maintenance of software and certificates on each individual client, Sendmail customers can now centrally utilize e-mail security in all application areas at dramatically reduced costs. Unlike standard PKI solutions, the Authentidate solution requires no specialized end-user training, and signatures are maintained centrally rather than on each enduser's desktop.

Marc Willems, Director for Sales and Marketing of AuthentiDate AG, added, "Because of the deep worldwide market penetration that Sendmail brings into this partnership we can now offer our technology as an optimal solution to all e-mail users who previously have been put off by the high costs of PKI implementations. This can be rolled out rapidly and offers the optimum in security for the electronic businesses of today and tomorrow."

In addition, secure/encrypted e-mail communication is dramatically simplified. All corporate users can now simply and securely communicate with external users, once the recipient's public key is present in the centrally-accessed certificate repository. Distributing the public key to each company employee or client is no longer required.

Centralized virus checks which are difficult to implement in standard PKI infrastructures can now be simply integrated through the central administration of certificates and their processes. In addition, centrally-installed control systems for outgoing documents can be directly implemented.

Initially the solution is available for all Sendmail users as a supplemental module. In the next phase, the functions will be available as an integrated mail server "plug-in" and will be offered through the Sendmail software distribution channels.

Both companies expect an unusually rapid implementation of the technology, based on the large market penetration of the Sendmail server worldwide coupled with the significant cost savings and advantages offered by the central AuthentiDate ME solution. For the first time, it is possible to implement the long-anticipated PKI standard worldwide for e-mail security and to do away with the incompatibilities of current solutions for secure e-mail communication. This will allow all users to communicate securely and transparantly worldwide without limitations. The first projects for PKI centralization at existing Sendmail customers were begun before the official contract signing because of the immense need and the large potential savings for the customer.

"The bane of many excellent new technologies has often been the cost associated with acquiring the customer.", stated John Botti, President and CEO of Authentidate Holding Corporation. "By partnering with companies like Sendmail who are market leaders in their space, we can provide all of the benefits of our technology to their users without the associated costs of developing these users from scratch. It is well known that e-mail is the largest application on the internet. We could not have a better partner with which to bring our solution to the world."

About AuthentiDate International AG

AuthentiDate International AG with headquarters in Ratingen, Germany, develops and markets solutions for the safeguarding of electronic data and transactions through digital, legally valid time signatures and for the central implementation and administration of PKI functionalities.

These unique technologies, for which patents have been applied, enable for the first time large-scale and high performance creation of digital time signatures for the legally valid safeguarding of electronic enterprise data in accordance with the new German signature law and the European directives.

The Company is currently going through the accreditation phase, required by regulatory authorities for Telecommunication and Postal Services (RegTP), to become an "Accredited Certification Services Provider," according to new German signature law and the European signature directives. The AuthentiDate services are also available in the US in accordance with the US signature laws through AuthentiDate Inc. with headquarters in New York, USA.

About Sendmail Ltd.

Sendmail is the pioneer in the area of Internet mail. In 1981, the CTO and the Open Source guru, Eric Allman, had already developed the first mail transfer agent for the routing of electronic post between different networks. Today, Sendmail develops and markets Internet messaging solutions for enterprises and service providers. Because the commercial software is based on the de facto standard for Internet Mail, Sendmail Inc. continues the development of the Internet Mail standard and ensures its early implementation in its commercial and Open Source products. The headquarters of the company is in Emeryville, California.