movianVPN to support UIQ-based Symbian OS for enhanced security on wireless devices 

Mississauga, Ontario – (March 17, 2003) – Certicom Corporation (TSX: CIC), a leading provider of wireless security solutions, and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications today announced an agreement for Certicom to develop movianVPN for the newly launched Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone. This joint solution will provide mobile workers with highly secure access to their corporate resources anytime, anywhere. 

“Bundled with movianVPN, the Sony Ericsson P800 will redefine wireless communications for the mobile worker, allowing users to securely access corporate information as if they were in the office,” said Ian McKinnon, President and CEO of Certicom. “Built on the open Symbian OS, the Sony Ericsson P800 offers a powerful solution that allows enterprise users to take mobile communications to the next frontier. This agreement reinforces Certicom’s leadership position and further entrenches movianVPN as the de facto standard for wireless VPNs.” 

Optimized to run on the Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone, movianVPN for Symbian OS allows companies to extend critical enterprise applications such as e-mail and intranet browsing to mobile professionals by enabling this smartphone to connect to corporate VPN gateways for secure wireless access. Enterprises have been challenged with extending existing security policies to mobile workers. Certicom provides a cost-effective security solution that allows corporations to leverage existing security infrastructure.

The Sony Ericsson P800 is a multimedia smartphone touting a large colour touch-screen, built-in camera, access to the Internet and runs on GSM and GPRS networks. This fully featured mobile multimedia product is the most advanced phone released to date from Sony Ericsson. The P800 runs on the latest version of the open operating system, Symbian OS v 7.0 and incorporates the UIQ pen-based user interface. The P800 also offers an integrated browser to access the web (HTML and xHTML), c-html and WAP. Furthermore, the P800 can be used across five continents and in 160 countries as it runs on GSM 900/1800/1900.

“The Sony Ericsson P800 symbolizes the next generation of mobile multimedia products. Early on, we recognized that an enterprise-class solution requires strong security and Certicom is recognized as the wireless security leader,” said Philip Vanhoutte, Corporate Vice President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. “With movianVPN, Certicom is able to offer our customers the strong security they demand without compromising the satisfying user experience that the P800 has to offer. This agreement helps us to deliver a key part of Sony Ericsson’s enterprise strategy.”

movianVPN by Certicom is an award-winning VPN client that extends enterprise security to handheld devices. It brings together the convenience of remote access, the mobility of wireless, and the essential security needed to access sensitive information. The movianVPN client interoperates with popular VPN gateways and supports the IPSec standard, providing a cost-effective solution for simple integration with existing wired VPN infrastructures. 

For availability and pricing please contact Certicom or for more information, visit http://www.certicom.com/movian. 

About Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB offers mobile communications products for people who appreciate the possibilities of powerful technology. Established in 2001 by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Sony Corporation, the joint venture continues to build on the success of its two innovative parent companies. Sony Ericsson creates value for its operator customers by bringing new ways of using multimedia communications while mobile. The company’s management is based in London, and has 4,000 employees across the globe working on research, development, design, sales, marketing, distribution and support. For further information, please visit: www.SonyEricsson.com.


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: 

In Europe:
Kenneth McGilvary 
TKO Marketing 
+44 1444 473555 
kenneth@tko.co.uk