CERTICOM JOINS MICROSOFT MOBILITY PARTNER ADVISORY COUNCIL (MPAC)

Certicom to Provide Wireless Security and Cryptography Expertise to Council 

Mississauga, Ontario – (February 12, 2003) – Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC), a leading provider of wireless security solutions, today announced that it has joined the Microsoft Mobility Partner Advisory Council (MPAC). MPAC was formed by Microsoft Corp. to provide a feedback mechanism for development of its mobility platform and to provide new technical, marketing, and business development support for companies making significant investments and inroads in the mobility space.

The productivity of a mobile workforce relies upon its ability to securely access business applications and communicate proprietary information — anywhere, anytime. As a leading provider of wireless security applications and developer toolkits, Certicom allows companies to extend critical enterprise applications such as e-mail and customer relationship management (CRM) tools securely to mobile professionals. 

" We are honored to be selected for Microsoft's MPAC," said Ian McKinnon President and CEO of Certicom. "Through this council, we are able to work more closely with Microsoft and a select group of third-party innovators to bring mobility solutions to market that meet the highest security standards. The end result is more advanced mobile technology that will continually enhance the productivity of our customers."

Through collaborative efforts, MPAC companies and Microsoft will work to ensure that mobile professionals are equipped with the most comprehensive wireless tools and technologies. By joining MPAC, Certicom is demonstrating its strong commitment to Microsoft’s mobility initiatives. This will also facilitate in-depth interaction between Certicom’s wireless security experts and other MPAC members in order to develop the most secure mobility solutions for business and government. 

“The Mobility Partner Advisory Council was created to bring together individuals and resources that encourage new mobile technologies, applications, and services," said Mary Rose Becker, group marketing manager for the Mobile Device Division at Microsoft. "Certicom plays a key role in that effort as a leading security application and developer toolkit provider that extends the reach of enterprise data to mobile professionals.”

movian by Certicom is a complete suite of wireless security applications that bring together the convenience of mobility with the security demanded by organizations including government. movianVPN provides secure access to the corporate network via wireless devices, while movianCrypt offers secure data storage for handhelds. All movian products support the latest Windows Powered mobile operating systems.

About the Microsoft Mobility Partner Advisory Council (MPAC)
A specialized arm of Microsoft’s global Mobile Solutions Partner Program (MSPP), MPAC was created to serve as a focused feedback mechanism for Microsoft mobility platform development and to provide technical, marketing and business development support to companies making significant investments and inroads in the mobility space. For more information on MPAC, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/partners/.

About Certicom
Certicom is a leading provider of wireless security solutions, enabling developers, governments and enterprises to add strong security to their devices, networks and applications. Designed for constrained devices, Certicom’s patented technologies are unsurpassed in delivering the strongest cryptography with the smallest impact on performance and usability. Certicom products are currently licensed to more than 300 customers including Texas Instruments, Palm, Research In Motion, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Motorola. Founded in 1985, Certicom is headquartered in Mississauga, ON, Canada, with offices in Ottawa, ON; Herndon, VA; San Mateo, CA; and London, England. Visit www.certicom.com.


Certicom, Security Builder, SSL Plus, Trustpoint, movianVPN, movianCrypt are trademarks or registered trademarks 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 news 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, 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 principal 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 fourth 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 Canadian securities regulatory authorities.

For further information, please contact: 

Andre Fuochi Brendan Ziolo
Maverick Public Relations Certicom Corp.
(416) 640-5519 (613) 254-9267
andref@maverickpr.com bziolo@certicom.com