Forwarded From: "Spencer, Will" <wspencer@DMWGroup.com>
VeriSign Acquires SecureIT For $70 Million
Digital certificate vendor VeriSign Inc., intensifying its push into the
enterprise market, acquired Internet security services and consulting firm
SecureIT Inc. yesterday for roughly $70 million in stock.
VeriSign offered 1.7 million shares of its stock for all outstanding
shares of SecureIT. The company says SecureIT's design, consulting,
testing, deployment, and training capabilities will make VeriSign more
attractive to enterprise customers. VeriSign originally targeted consumers
with its public-key infrastructure technology but has increasingly focused
on the business market in the past year.
SecureIT already has 300 enterprise customers, including companies such as
AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Cox Enterprises, First Union, General Electric,
Reuters, and Turner Broadcasting, broadening the base for VeriSign's
OnSite digital certificate product.
Enterprise demand for digital certificates has been pushed by the rapid
growth of intranet and extranet applications, says Richard Yanowitch, VP
of marketing at VeriSign. As IT departments struggle with providing secure
connections to a potentially vast range of users, public key
infrastructure "is moving center stage for the enterprise," he says. --
Jeff Sweat
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Received on Thu Jul 9 20:13:07 1998