Xcert and nCipher Join Forces to Deliver High Security E-Commerce Environments; Leading Hardware and Software Solutions Providers Offer Scalability and Security to Today's E-Businesses.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., and WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aug. 28, 2000

Xcert(TM), the leading provider of software for securing business-to-business transactions and communications over the Internet, and nCipher, Inc., the premier developer of high-performance hardware security products for e-business and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) applications, today announced a joint sales and marketing agreement to deliver highly secure e-commerce environments to their customers. The initiative combines powerful key management and hardware acceleration capabilities present in nCipher's Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) with Xcert highly scalable Sentry CA(TM) software solution.

According to the agreement, Xcert now offers nCipher's nForce(TM) and nShield(TM) HSM's as part of a solution with their own Xcert Sentry CA, to a wide variety of industries including application service providers (ASPs), healthcare, telecommunications, government and financial services. By tightly integrating these leading products, customers can deploy a platform that provides a trusted mechanism for establishing and managing the electronic credentials and digital signatures that are forming the corner stones of secure online transactions. On the public Internet, the ability to rely on the integrity and privacy of information is crucial in creating trustworthy relations.

"It is imperative that PKI-related software work flawlessly and reliably," said Chris Swinbank, managing director of Trustis, a London-based e-commerce security service provider. "We find Xcert's product to be robust in a serious deployment, which is essential when building business-to business PKIs." With reference to the joint activities with nCipher, Chris continued, "The close interoperability between nCipher and Xcert has provided a solid base upon which we have developed some of our PKI hosting platforms."

"Offering our customers nCipher's hardware security in addition to our certificate authority software, results in a very high level of security for key management," said Ed Murrer, VP of marketing for Xcert. "This partnership reinforces our commitment to providing the best PKI security and acceleration capabilities available for e-business."

"In the e-business world, two of the greatest challenges are to build trust into online relationships and to deliver a consistently high quality e-service," said Richard Moulds, vice president of marketing for nCipher. "The integration of our products with Xcert's technology provides customers with one of the most secure, highest performance and scalable solution on the market today."

Xcert's Sentry CA provides a certificate issuance and management solution that enables global Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Sentry CA has a flexible architecture that guarantees a return on technology investment and provides a unified security infrastructure offering increasing levels of value as new applications are added.

nCipher's award-winning nForce and nShield products allow companies to build the highest level of security and performance into their PKI applications. The ability to deliver both security and speed results in secure online services that can both be trusted and depended on. nForce and nShield establish a highly secure environment for the protection of the private keys that lie at the heart of every PKI application and dramatically increase the speed with which individual transactions are processed. In addition, nShield is validated to FIPS 140-1 Level 3, combining tamper resistant physical hardening with full key management functionality.

About Xcert

Xcert, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., is an innovator in developing software for conducting secure e-commerce and Internet transactions. Through the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) digital certificates, Xcert's technology enables companies to quickly and easily control their online information security, including privacy, authentication, non-repudiation and access control. Xcert's scalable software suite allows companies to easily expand their user base to meet their growing business requirements. Xcert also licenses its technology worldwide to selected service providers and third-party developers.

For a complete guide to Xcert's products and services visit http://www.xcert.com.

About nCipher

Founded in 1996, nCipher is a leading provider of high-performance hardware security products specifically designed for e-commerce and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) applications. nCipher's family of products provide secure key management capabilities and accelerate secure transactions for organizations with high volumes of security sensitive transactions. nCipher customers include many of the world's leading financial institutions, e-retailers, service providers (ISPs/ASPs) and government agencies. With offices in Cambridge, UK; Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.; Washington D.C.; San Mateo, Calif.; Paris, France; and Hamburg, Germany, nCipher serves customers and partners around the world.

For more information on nCipher products and services, visit our Web site at http://www.ncipher.com/.

Note to Editors: nShield and nCipher are trademarks of nCipher, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Xcert and Sentry CA are trademarks of Xcert International, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.