BIZ and EDS Unite in Alliance to Deliver SSP Solution Suite; End-to-End Solution Suite Solves Looming Security Crisis for E-commerce.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

COMDEX Fall 2000

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000

In a bold move to deliver a new worldwide standard for secure data exchange on the Internet, Electronic Data Systems (NYSE:EDS) and Biz Interactive Zone (BIZ) have joined forces to market SSP(TM), a comprehensive solution for the secure, real-time exchange of authenticated financial and intellectual information over the Internet.

The alliance to provide Secure Digital Communications was announced today by Shakil Kidwai, vice president of EDS' Information Assurance Group, during a news conference held at Comdex Fall 2000 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

SSP, for Secure Service Provider(TM), is a Core to the Edge(TM) security solution presenting a hardware/software worldwide industry standard for real time, secure, private and authenticated financial and intellectual transactions over the Internet. The two companies have forged agreements to work together in an alliance to market SSP. The SSP solution suite of 15 primary products and services will be one of the core offerings of EDS' worldwide Information Assurance Group. The initial term of the agreement is 10 years.

"Information assurance is vital to the success of the digital economy. EDS' Secure Digital Communications solves the main problem that is holding back the growth of e-commerce," according to EDS' Kidwai. "Biz Interactive Zone, under the SSP brand, has marshaled a team of best-of-breed products and services to manifest a total solution for security that is complete and extensive, combining the comprehensive back-end IT infrastructure of EDS with the advanced technologies of the SSP brand. We plan to fully integrate this powerful new suite of products and services to equip our clients with the capability to protect both consumers and intellectual property owners."

SSP addresses the myriad security-related problems facing the Internet such as content piracy, privacy issues, secure e-commerce, virus attacks, transaction scalability challenges, and the dynamic changes in security approaches. The agreement between BIZ and EDS includes the marketing, training, installation and consulting related to the following core products and services:

-- SSP Smart Cards with expanded storage and accelerated processing of complex
cryptographic functions

-- SSP Smart Card Readers direct communications between the host computer and
the smart card, specifically engineered to eliminate the need for a separate
power supply

-- SSP Netsignia for securing Web and desktops from unauthorized access as well
as providing flexibility and certificate integration

-- SSP Profile Manager to securely leverage the Internet for e-business and
communications by controlling the smart card and the certificate lifecycle

-- SSP 2108 CipherServer, which offloads cryptographic processing to achieve
dramatically expedited response times

-- SSP Crypto Accelerator, a PC card that fits into a server to provide the
same function at the CipherServer, but is dedicated to an individual server

-- SSP Maestro, which brings together all the components of the Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI)

-- SSP EMBASSY(TM) Trusted Client, a subsystem in user devices which provides a
platform capable of hosting secure application processing and access to secure
resources such as storage, time, cryptographic functions and key management.
The Embassy chip denotes SSP open technology for an embedded application
security system executing secure application called applets. The EMBASSY
Device, along with applets, application providers and servers, are
authenticated within a trusted infrastructure.

-- SSP Applet Development Kit, which provides the hardware and software tools
to create applications for the EMBASSY system

-- SSP Digital Notary provides a one-way identification and time stamp for
notarizing a digital object. Establishes the integrity of a record without
exposing the content.

-- SSP Agent Addressed (XNS) providing unique personal or business agent ID
addresses for which access rights are controlled, allowing only select
individuals or business entities to view specific administrative, intellectual
or financial information on a worldwide basis

-- SSP Gilian G-Server is a Web server front-end that verifies data on web
pages and overrides any hacking or unauthorized information alterations. It
uses digital signatures and hashing to check Web page content as it leaves the
server for a request from online users

-- SSP Metering provides Embassy device applets which provide time metering,
digital rights management (DRM) and specific business rules

-- SSP Broadcasting Kit allows a content provider to prepare products with
digital rights management (DRM) and specific business rules

-- SSP Trust Assurance Consulting to assist clients in selecting the
appropriate SSP technology and ensure unique needs and requirements are met

"This alliance with EDS allows us to accelerate the mass adoption of broadband-based, embedded security all the way from the Core to the Edge(TM) -- which is the user's Internet access device, be it desktop, cable, DSL, wireless modem, satellite receiver or other appliance," according to Rob Gorman, president and COO of Biz Interactive Zone. "A new generation of e-commerce is now enabled with a truly secure and trusted environment."

SSP represents the only open embedded security architecture supporting multiple standards of public key infrastructure (PKI) and digital rights management (DRM) simultaneously. With the impressive performance capability to process transactions at the minimum rate of 3,500 per second, the SSP solution is tens of thousands of times faster than software-only based PKI solutions. The suite of end-to-end components assures that every link in the transaction chain is secure, resulting in impenetrable embedded security at every step. SSP supports all e-commerce requirements, including automatic rules handling, digital rights management, micro-payment processing, transaction clearing and sub-clearing, authentication and content preparation.

The complete suite of firmware, software, applications and services will support all e-commerce requirements, including automatic rules handling, digital rights management, micro-payment processing, transaction clearing, authentication and content preparation and protection. The SSP system employs smart cards so any individual or virtual community can direct funds or information through a secure channel. SSP is platform independent, easy to integrate, open and programmable by third parties.

About EDS

EDS, the leading pure-play global services company, provides strategy, implementation and hosting for clients managing the complexities of the digital economy. EDS brings together the world's best technologies to address critical client business imperatives. It helps clients eliminate boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their customers' trust and continuously seek improvement. EDS serves the world's leading companies and governments in 55 countries globally. EDS reported revenues of $18.5 billion in 1999. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:EDS) and the London Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.eds.com.

BIZ Interactive Zone is pioneering the only Core to the Edge(TM) security solution that enables merchants, consumers, and vertical virtual communities to confidently transact commerce and exchange confidential information online, by delivering a new worldwide broadband industry standard for real-time, secure, private transactions. These technologies, when combined with BIZ partners, completes the SSP (Secure Service Provider) (TM) suite of products and services enabling secure transactions at the rate of 3,500 per second, as compared to 100 transactions per second of the current software only solutions utilizing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). For more information about BIZ Interactive Zone, visit www.bizssp.com.