nCipher and Datum Form Secure Time/Date Stamping Alliance.

Business Editors and Technology Writers

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2002

nCipher plc (LSE:NCH)

Datum's time management technology and nCipher's advanced security architecture advance the integrity and auditability

of business operations 

nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), a leading provider of cryptographic IT security solutions, and Datum's Trusted Time Division, the leading innovator of secure time management solutions, today announced a broad marketing and technical alliance.

Through this partnership, Datum's time stamping and time synchronization technology will be protected within nCipher's nShield hardware cryptographic security modules using its Secure Execution Engine(TM) (SEE) technology, in order to ensure the authenticity and integrity of time-sensitive digital business operations.

As the amount of business being conducted electronically increases, so does the need for security to minimize exposure to transactional fraud. The reliance on time-sensitive operations, such as the submission of important documents, the execution of a critical command, or the calculation of customer's bill, typically requires an evidentiary trail associated with how and when the event took place. Secure time stamping technology provides a highly accurate and tamper-resistant source of time that can be applied in such a way as to establish provability, for example, a business contract being submitted prior to a deadline. Playing a pivotal role in the e-security infrastructure for a wide range of security sensitive applications, time stamps have become an obvious target for cyber-criminals attempting to fraudulently manipulate business operations.

The relationship between Datum and nCipher brings together the advanced time stamping and time referencing technology of Datum with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-validated hardware security architecture from nCipher to create a unique appliance product. This strategic partnership substantiates the "when" of digital transactions, and provides the knowledge that the time stamping technology used is protected to the highest levels possible, lowering financial and legal risk and protecting contractual relationships with customers, partners and suppliers. In addition to these technical integration activities, the partnership will create a joint marketing and sales program that addresses the needs of a number of industry markets.

"Business procedures that rely on time sensitive transactions demand the utmost in integrity and protection", said Jim Hurley, vice president of security and privacy at Aberdeen Group. "The combination of Datum's time stamping with nCipher's hardware modules provides IS buyers with greater convenience, reliability, scalability, and protection for make-the-money business transactions."

"nCipher, one of the most trusted names in security will provide a valuable component in our future Trusted Time(TM) products," said John Bernardi, president of Datum's Trusted Time Division. "nCipher's products and reputation have been proven to offer the highest level security, reliability and flexibility that our customers require. With more FIPS-level certifications then any other company in the world, nCipher provides an obvious advantage to our customers based on its ability to seamlessly integrate its encryption technology with our time stamping solutions."

"In many businesses it is as important to know when a document was created as it is to know who wrote it," said Dr. Nicko van Someren, CTO, nCipher. "Secure time stamping is another great example of how cryptography is being applied to security challenges across the enterprise. Addressing the need to provide secure documentary evidence that a contractual obligation was either fulfilled or not and when the event happened is a critical component of building and managing online relationships throughout the value chain. nCipher's products and, specifically, our Secure Execution Engine (SEE) are well suited to the needs of a time stamping solution and we are pleased to be working closely with such an expert in the field as Datum."

About Datum

Datum, Inc. (Nasdaq: DATM) of Irvine, CA, designs, manufactures and markets a wide variety of high-performance time and frequency products for computing networks, satellite systems, electronic commerce, and test and measurement applications. The Trusted Time Division provides secure time management solutions that manage the integrity of time in digital business processes for the Information Technology market. Additional company information can be found at www.datum.com/tt

About nCipher

nCipher is redefining cryptographic security to protect points of risk across the enterprise--from network appliances to Web servers, to custom software applications and back-end databases. nCipher provides hardware and software solutions that enable organizations to implement best practice security by addressing the challenges of cryptographic key management and performance. Many of the world's leading organizations--from Microsoft and Barclays Bank to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the U.S. Navy--rely on nCipher to deliver a sound e-security infrastructure. nCipher's products are particularly well suited to organizations with high volumes of security-sensitive transactions, such as banking and financial institutions, government departments, e-retailers and online service providers.

nCipher is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a TechMARK 100 company (LSE:NCH) with offices in Cambridge, UK; Boston, New York, San Francisco, Dublin, Paris, Hamburg, Hong Kong and Tokyo. For more information on nCipher, visit www.ncipher.com.