Symbian-based VPN Solutions Will Enable Access to Corporate Intranet for Increased Workforce Productivity

LONDON and HAYWARD, Calif., January 24, 2001 - Certicom (Nasdaq: CERT; TSE: CIC), a leading provider of mobile e-business security and Symbian, the leading software platform provider for Wireless Information Devices (WIDs), today announced a partnership to enable Symbian-based Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions for next generation mobile phones. The partnership will accelerate Certicom's support of the Symbian platform with its handheld VPN client so that users of Symbian-based Smartphones and Communicators will now have secure access to corporate intranets. Under the agreement, Certicom has become a Symbian Technology Partner and the companies agree to partner on the marketing and development of technologies that will be used in Symbian-based devices on a worldwide basis.

The partnership between Symbian and Certicom will provide VPN solutions that increase workforce productivity by providing Symbian users secure access to corporate data. The Certicom handheld VPN client will provide secure remote access into the corporate intranet through multiple popular VPN gateways and firewalls, enhancing enterprise applications such as email, sales force automation (SFA), customer research management (CRM) and other productivity software that are already available for Symbian based devices.

"The next generation of mobile phones are likely to be one of the most influential networked devices to drive customers into the post-PC era, providing a vast new market for wireless networked services and applications. In the enterprise sector businesses will adopt WIDs only if they allow both employees and customers to obtain remote access to information in ways that conform with corporate security policies," said Jeremy Copp, VP Business Relationships, Symbian. "Certicom and Symbian are working in partnership to address these issues, offering advanced security solutions for Symbian based Wireless Information Devices. The partnership we are creating will help to progress the demand for devices and applications by enterprises because the Certicom VPN client will enable them to maintain expected levels of security."

Symbian's Technology Partner program offers leading technology specialists the opportunity to work closely with Symbian in developing enabling technologies and engage in co-marketing campaigns, thus adding value to the Symbian platform. Symbian will also assist Technology Partners in engaging directly with Symbian's licensees, 
enabling rapid time-to-market for a wide range of WIDs. Symbian's licensees include Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Psion, Sanyo and Sony. 
"We have always identified the Symbian platform as a priority for our VPN client and welcome the acceleration of our development efforts that will arise from our collaboration," said Rick Dalmazzi, Certicom President and CEO. "Soon, Symbian users will be able to leverage the powerful combination of their device, mobile data applications and VPN security for increased productivity."

Certicom's handheld VPN client is currently in a large beta program on multiple platforms, and is the first client to interoperate with a wide range of popular VPN systems, allowing organizations to easily and securely incorporate popular handheld devices into sensitive corporate VPNs. The handheld VPN client is interoperable with products from leading gateway companies including Alcatel, AXENT Technologies Inc., Check Point, Cisco, Intel Corp., Nortel Networks and Radguard, with others following soon. Certicom's VPN client provides major productivity improvements and strategic flexibility to today's enterprise while expanding Certicom's wide range of mobile security products designed specifically to meet the bandwidth and footprint constraints of today's increasingly mobile professional work forces.

About Symbian
Symbian owns, develops and licenses a software platform for next generation mobile phones. Owned by Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia and Psion, Symbian's mission is to license the Symbian platform to all mobile phone manufacturers and to create a mass market for next generation mobile phones by working closely with wireless networks, content, services, messaging and enterprise wide solution providers. For more information seehttp://www.symbian.com/

About Certicom
Certicom is a leading provider of information security software and services, specializing in solutions for mobile e-business. The company's products and services are specifically designed to address the challenges imposed by a wireless data environment. Certicom's solutions incorporate its proprietary encryption technology and are based on industry standards for information security that utilize public key cryptography. Certicom's products are currently licensed to more than 125 customers including ePocrates, Inc., Motorola, Inc., NeoPoint, Inc., Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Inc., Palm, Inc., Pixo, Inc., QUALCOMM, Inc., Research In Motion Ltd. and Sony International (Europe) GmbH. Certicom's headquarters and worldwide sales and marketing operations are based in the Silicon Valley in Hayward. For more information, visit Certicom's Web site at 
http://www.certicom.com/.

Certicom is a registered trademark of Certicom Corp. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Except for historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, those relating to the acceptance of mobile and wireless devices and the continued growth of e-commerce and m-commerce (mobile e-commerce), the increase of the demand for mutual authentication in m-commerce transactions, the acceptance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) technology as an industry standard, the market acceptance of our principle products and sales of our customer's products, the impact of competitive products and technologies, the possibility of our products infringing patents and other intellectual property of third parties, and costs of product development. Certicom will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect Certicom's financial results is included in the documents Certicom files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities including Certicom's current Annual Report on Form 10-K.

For further information, please contact:

Lorraine Kauffman
Certicom Corporation
(510) 780-5417
lkauffman@certicom.com