Technology Firsts and New Industry Alliances Bring Internet Trust
                       Infrastructure to Wireless World

    SAN JOSE, Calif., RSA CONFERENCE 2000, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- VeriSign,
Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of Internet trust services, today
announced a revolutionary suite of new technologies, services, and key
industry alliances to accelerate the deployment of next-generation e-commerce
applications over the wireless Internet.  Industry leaders in
wireless-including BellSouth, Research In Motion, RSA Security, Sonera
SmartTrust, and others-have teamed up with VeriSign and its network of
22 global affiliates to deliver a broad range of solutions for wireless
e-commerce.  (See related releases dated January 17, 2000).  VeriSign is also
scheduled to announce a major strategic relationship in the wireless arena at
a press conference later today at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose,
CA.
    "The Wireless Internet is poised for explosive growth and, like the wired
world, requires a 24x7 global trust infrastructure to make it safe for
e-commerce," said Stratton Sclavos, VeriSign's president and CEO and a
featured keynote speaker at the RSA Conference 2000. "With today's
across-the-board industry-firsts, VeriSign is uniquely positioned to enable
the same level of trust for the wireless revolution as it has for the wired
Internet."
    Analysts predict explosive growth for the mobile device market, with most
predicting one billion mobile phones in use within the next three to four
years.  According to Gartner Group, mobile phones are expected to be the most
common client device worldwide by 2005.  Given their portability, mobile
devices provide the ideal platform for delivering high-value services such as
e-banking, stock trading, instant messaging, and health care applications,
anytime, anywhere.
    "We have selected VeriSign's leading Internet trust services for mobile
prescription fulfillment services to enable both the authentication of doctors
and pharmacists and to protect the integrity of the transactions," said Chris
Blackley, CEO of DCH Health, a leading application services provider (ASP)
focused on the pharmaceutical industry. "By delivering scalable solutions for
today's advanced mobile devices, VeriSign is leading the way in bringing
trusted e-commerce to a whole new range of customers, service providers and
industries."

    Industry-First Wireless Trust Technologies Lay the Foundation
    VeriSign today is introducing a new suite of innovative technologies
specifically tailored to the unique architecture of the wireless Internet.
These include:

    * Wireless Personal Trust Agent (PTA) -- transparent micro-client code
      which can be embedded in handheld devices, to enable seamless use of
      private keys, digital certificates, and digital signatures;
    * Short-Lived wireless server certificates -- a new generation of
      wireless-optimized "mini-digital certificates," which provide both
      strong authentication and real-time certificate validation for low-
      footprint handhelds;
    * Gateway-assisted SSL -- a state-of-the art trust model which enables
      network service providers to substitute wireless certificates for
      existing SSL certificates, leveraging the Internet's existing SSL
      infrastructure and providing subscribers with seamless, secure mobile
      communications; and
    * Gateway-assisted PKI -- a unique new roaming that which allows
      small-footprint devices to digitally sign transactions by storing
      subscriber certificates in a gateway directory, mapped to and accessible
      only by the subscriber's private key.

    New Wireless Trust Services for a Broad Range of Customers
    VeriSign has combined its new wireless trust technologies with its proven
trust infrastructure to deliver a new suite of wireless trust services, which
include:

    * Subscriber Trust Services -- for individuals engaged in secure messaging
      and transactions using wireless handhelds;
    * Server/Gateway Trust Services -- for e-businesses operating wireless
      servers and gateways, to deliver secure applications over wireless
      networks (free VeriSign trial WAP server certificates, introduced in
      December, 1999, are also available for customers using Motorola, Nokia,
      and Phone.com WAP servers);
    * Developer Trust Services -- for developers to both digitally protect
      downloadable content and enable wireless applications;
    * Enterprise Trust Services -- for e-businesses providing wireless B2B and
      B2C services such as e-banking, e-brokerage, e-healthcare and
      e-messaging; and
    * Service Provider Platforms -- for network operators and application
      service providers (ASPs) to offer a complete range of VeriSign-based
      wireless trust services.

    New Transaction Services Round Out Wireless Offerings
    Expanding upon its authentication, payment and validation services for
trusted e-commerce, VeriSign will also deliver a range of unparalleled
transaction services uniquely tailored to the wireless Internet, including:

    * Wireless Validation Services - providing an innovative model for
      real-time certificate validation (based on short-lived wireless
      certificates and gateway-assisted SSL), in addition to digital receipt
      capabilities; and
    * Wireless Payment Services -- bridging the gap between wired and wireless
      payment applications, payment types, and payment processors.

    More on VeriSign's new wireless technologies and trust services can be
found in a white paper entitled "Secure Wireless E-Commerce with PKI from
VeriSign", available on the VeriSign Web site at
http://www.verisign.com.

    Industry-Leading Alliances Pave the Way
    Recognizing the growing importance of wireless e-commerce, industry
leaders have joined with VeriSign to create trusted solutions for wireless
transactions and communications (see related releases dated January 17, 2000).
Highlights include the following:

    * BellSouth will leverage VeriSign's wireless trust services to create a
      platform for e-commerce providers to develop and deploy a broad range of
      trusted applications and services for the wireless market;
    * Research In Motion (RIM)  will work with VeriSign to enable secure
      transactions and communications for RIM handhelds, has named VeriSign a
      preferred provider of PKI and trust services, and will embed VeriSign's
      digital certificate root keys as the default root keys in its handheld
      devices;
    * RSA Security will deliver a new wireless-enabled toolkit, has named
      VeriSign its preferred provider of wireless trust and validation
      services, will embed VeriSign's digital certificate root keys in its
      products, and will support VeriSign's new Wireless PTA and short-lived
      certificates in its offerings; and
    * Sonera SmartTrust will integrate its SIM card and PKI platform with
      VeriSign's enterprise trust services to enable banks, brokerages, and
      other providers to deliver wireless e-commerce applications linked to
      GSM and other phones.

    Additional partnerships with leading wireless e-commerce players will be
announced throughout the week of the RSA Conference 2000.

    About VeriSign
    VeriSign, Inc. is the leading provider of Internet trust
services-including authentication, validation and payment-needed by Web sites,
enterprises and individuals in order to conduct trusted and secure electronic
commerce and communications over the Internet. VeriSign's digital certificate
services for Web sites, WAP sites, developers and consumers are available
through the company's Web site at http://www.verisign.com and through over 3200 ISPs
and Web hosting companies.  The company's digital certificate services for
enterprises and electronic commerce service providers are available through
regional account representatives, resellers, and VeriSign global affiliates.

    NOTE:  VeriSign is a registered trademark exclusively licensed to
VeriSign, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not
limited to the introduction of new products and services, the ability of
alliances described above to achieve the beneficial synergies anticipated and
the future of the markets and industries described above.  Such statements
involve a number of risks and uncertainties.  Among the important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements are delays in product development, technical
difficulties, software bugs and errors, competitive pressures, changes in
customer requirements, failure to develop or maintain strategic partner
relationships, market acceptance of new technologies and technological changes
in the computer industry.  For more information about potential factors that
could affect VeriSign, see the final prospectus for VeriSign's follow-on
offering dated January 26, 1999 and VeriSign's reports filed with the SEC.
VeriSign assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.

Link to this page: