CERTICOM UNVEILS MOVIANVPN, THE INDUSTRY'S FIRST WIRELESS VPN CLIENT THAT INTEROPERATES WITH A WIDE RANGE OF POPULAR VPN PRODUCTS

Editors Note: movianVPN to be showcased at VPNCon in San Jose and Internet World Wireless in New York

Certicom Becomes a Provider of Wireless Security Applications for the Enterprise by Enabling Fortune 1000 Companies to Extend Corporate E-Business to Wireless Devices


Hayward, Calif., February 20, 2001 -- Certicom (Nasdaq: CERT; TSE: CIC), a leading provider of mobile e-business security, today announced the availability of movianVPN(, the industry's first virtual private network (VPN) client for wireless devices that provides end-to-end security by interoperating with multiple industry leading VPN gateways. movianVPN enables companies to extend critical enterprise applications such as e-mail and customer resource management (CRM) tools to mobile professionals using popular Palm OS(r) 3.5 or Windows CE 3.0-based devices while leveraging their existing VPN infrastructures. With the launch of movianVPN, Certicom further expands its impressive list of high-powered security solutions and becomes a provider of wireless security applications directly to Fortune 1000 companies.

"With movianVPN, Certicom is leveraging its expertise in cryptography, embedded systems and efficient protocol implementations to deliver an application that truly meets the end-to-end security needs of the enterprise," said Rick Dalmazzi, president and CEO of Certicom. "movianVPN enables mobile workers to have secure and instant access to their corporate networks whenever needed by placing the resources of the enterprise literally at their fingertips. This enables mobile workers to engage in business practices on a much more sophisticated level then ever before possible."

A VPN uses the Internet as the transport backbone to securely connect a business with remote offices, partners and employees from virtually anywhere. Due to their cost effectiveness and employee productivity benefits, VPNs have been adopted by a large percentage of Fortune 5000 companies. Industry analysts predict that the growth of VPNs is set to take off.

"VPN's are an essential security component of any enterprise that uses the Internet as an important communications backbone," said Jon Cordova, an analyst with Infonetics Research. "By releasing the first highly interoperable wireless VPN client, Certicom has enabled the mobile workforce to use business applications that require security."
As the corporate workforce goes wireless and handheld devices are enabled with VPNs without Boundaries
As the corporate workforce goes wireless and handheld devices are enabled with enterprise applications, the two environments need to converge. Certicom's movianVPN unleashes the potential for large-scale corporate use of popular wireless devices by enabling secure access to corporate Intranets.

"Many organizations using Windows Powered mobile devices need a secure virtual private network connection for their employees in the field," said Douglas Dedo, group product manager of the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is pleased that Certicom is bringing its significant security and wireless expertise to this IPSec Handheld VPN solution for Pocket PCs."

"As companies adapt their line of business applications for mobility, security becomes a primary concern," said Gordon Clyne, security products manager for Palm, Inc. "Certicom's movianVPN combined with the Palm OS platform provides an excellent solution for mobile professionals that want to secure critical corporate data and applications through VPN connectivity." "Certicom's movianVPN client provides a critical component of a total mobile enterprise solution," said Boris Elisman, worldwide marketing manager, Embedded Personal Systems of Hewlett Packard. "The ability for IT managers to incorporate Jornadas into their corporate VPN opens the door for extending networked enterprise applications to greater numbers of the professional workforce."

While VPNs have been popular for several years, movianVPN is the first VPN solution to truly extend wireless capabilities to the enterprise by interoperating with a vast array of the industry's leading installed VPN products. Cisco Systems, Inc. and Nortel Networks will be enabling Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) versions of their gateways for fast performance. The client is also interoperable with versions of products from other industry leaders including Alcatel, Check Point Software Technologies, Intel Corp. (currently WinCE only), Radguard, and Symantec (formerly AXENT Technologies). Other interoperability targets will follow, as well as support for additional features in vendors' gateway products, based on market demand.

Strong Security with Fast Performance

movianVPN implements the well accepted IPSec/IKE protocols for establishing a secure tunnel that encrypts all traffic between the handheld device and the VPN gateway to decrease the risk of eavesdropping, interception or tampering. movianVPN provides high levels of security and performance due to its incorporation of the industry's leading cryptographic technologies including Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Diffie-Hellman (DH) for the Internet Key Exchange (IKE). Certicom's ECC technology is ideally suited for securing the new generation of wireless devices that are limited by low processing speed, network bandwidth, and battery power and several gateways are adding ECC to offer fast performance for their customers deploying wireless devices. The fast performance available with ECC makes recommended security levels feasible on a Palm OS device, enabling IT managers to easily enforce their security policies for this platform. In addition to Cisco and Nortel, other gateways will be including ECC support soon.

Enhanced Features

movianVPN has benefited from extensive beta testing by over 110 companies and has incorporated significant beta feedback to ensure the product will meet the needs of IT managers. Beta customers have represented 16 of the Fortune 50 from industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, hightech; telcos, operators and government. Customers who have now purchased movianVPN for deployment projects include Cargill Incorporated, Catholic Healthcare West - Phoenix ITS, Fujitsu, Genencor International, as well as one of the largest global providers of computing solutions and one of the largest global telephone companies. Other companies actively working on deployment projects include Lockheed Martin and several of the largest global financial and insurance institutions. 

* Supports a Variety of Handheld Devices: movianVPN is available for multiple IP-enabled devices running Palm OS 3.5 or Windows CE 3.0 and future versions will support additional platform such as Symbian-based devices. Examples of popular handhelds currently supported include Casio(r) Cassiopeia, Compaq iPAQ and AERO, HP Jornada 540 and 680, NEC MobilePro(tm) and Palm(tm) III, V and Vx series handhelds. 

* Authentication: movianVPN incorporates the most commonly used form of VPN authentication, shared secret authentication with username and passwords and will soon support additional authentication methods including RADIUS, and strong two-factor authentication using popular tokens. Support for SecurID will soon be in beta for specific gateways, enabling enterprises to extend this security policy to their wireless users transparently. movianVPN will leverage Certicom's PKI Client and smart card expertise to support these stronger levels of authentication security in future client releases. 

* Advanced User Support: Certicom will be launching a separate movian website serving as a central communications hub for wireless VPN administrators and users in mid-late March. Information is currently available athttp://www.moviansecurity.com, but soon users will be able to download the client, register as a user, purchase individual seats and login to their personalized accounts for support and history

* Simple to Use: movianVPN is simple to install and configure and features an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI). In addition, the client features a small footprint on the device, a pull down menu for the gateway and detailed server configurations for the IT manager. Connecting to the gateway is quick and easy. Users can connect to a wireless network (Cellular, CDPD, PCS or GSM) that supports IP data service or through a wired modem to their ISP.

Future versions of movianVPN will include market-driven features that enable large scale deployment of the devices as they go mainstream in the enterprise such as centralized push policy support, more authentication choices, and increased handheld, network and connectivity options. 

"Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) - Phoenix ITS is at the forefront in exploring the latest in mobile healthcare technology for consideration of future deployment. By getting the most cutting-edge technology in the hands of the decision makers, this will more effectively enable enterprise wide deployment for hospitals, doctors and other healthcare professionals in the CHW network," said Jim Sanderson, senior systems engineer - special projects, of CHW - Phoenix ITS. "Certicom's movianVPN is a perfect fit in our Remote Operation of Applications for Mobile Healthcare (ROAM) strategy because it will provide HIPPA compliance which is critical for the successful use of mobile devices in healthcare."

"With Certicom's movianVPN, our leading financial customers can have their broker/dealers view, place and confirm orders directly with their back office right from their handheld computer." said Philip Yaccino, vice president, marketing of Q-Tech Communications, Inc. "Certicom's movianVPN is a cutting-edge product that extends the true benefits of VPNs to the wireless world. This gives the user the opportunity to work securely from literally any location that has wireless Internet access."

Pricing and Availability

movianVPN is available and free for non-commercial use with individual commercial licenses starting at $29.95 per seat on an annual subscription basis. The subscription enables use of the client for any available platform, access to support and the right to all product updates throughout the year. Site licenses will start at 10 seats and higher. movianVPN will also be available through third parties who will bundle the client with their own products because of the synergies it provides to the enterprise. Certicom's first bundling partners include YadaYada Inc., an integrated wireless Internet service provider and personalized mobile Web portal for PDAs and Ubiquio, a leading handheld service provider (HSP). For more information on site licenses email inquires@moviansecurity.com or call the movianVPN group at Certicom at (510) 780-5100. 

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 150 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, movian and movianVPN, are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Certicom Corp. Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. 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
Public Relations Manager
Certicom Corporation
(510) 780-5417
lkauffman@certicom.com 

Elizabeth Safran or Scott Wyban
Lutchansky Communications
(408) 938-9050 ext 15 or 22
elizabeth@lcomm.com
scott@lcomm.com