FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ACTRA TRUSTS INTERNET COMMERCE
AUTHENTICITY TO VERISIGN
Actra's New ECXpert* System Provides Verification of
Trading Partner Identity and Transaction Integrity Through
VeriSign Digital IDs
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., -- May 19, 1997 -- VeriSign Inc.,
the leading provider of digital certification services for
Internet access and electronic commerce, today announced the
first available Internet commerce solution to incorporate
VeriSign authentication, Actra Business System's ECXpert. By
using VeriSign Digital Ids (sm), trading partners exchanging
EDI messages over the Internet using ECXpert can be assured
of the other party's identity and the transaction integrity.
Available immediately as the first product in Actra's
CrossCommerce portfolio of Internet commerce application
software, ECXpert delivers a new focus for EDI -- using the
Internet for electronic commerce. Users can enter orders and
purchases; do accounts payable; transfer funds; and link
seamlessly to suppliers, distributors, customers, banks and
transportation carriers. As an alternative to traditional
EDI communication over value-added networks (VANs), ECXpert
and VeriSign Digital IDs ensure a private, verified business
transaction point-to-point.
"VeriSign is the trusted third party to certify Internet
EDI," said Lincoln Yarbrough, Actra product manager for
ECXpert. "Actra and VeriSign are enabling a whole new model
for business-to-business commerce. This solution lowers the
barrier of entry to deploy a business process typically
afforded to only the top five percent of potential users."
VeriSign is providing digital authentication of ECXpert
users through its Get-rEDI Digital ID Center (sm), a
Web-based enrollment site. Trading partners using ECXpert
generate their VeriSign Class 3 Digital IDs, the virtual
equivalent of a notary public, and exchange public keys only
once before they begin transacting. The authentication then
becomes an automated background process, establishing
ongoing verification of the business relationship. The
Get-rEDI Center URL is http://digitalid.verisign.com/edi.
"The Internet is a platform for pulling, pushing and
processing critical information between applications and
trading partners," said Richard Yanowitch, vice president of
marketing for VeriSign. "Actra and VeriSign are
demonstrating that companies can do business over the
Internet with the same familiar assurance as a signature on
paper."
"One of the key requirements for Internet EDI is
authentication of sender," said Mike Rothman, vice
president, Global Networking Strategies for META Group Inc.
"Leveraging VeriSign Digital IDs enables Actra's ECXpert to
transparently ensure the integrity of corporate EDI
transactions sent over public networks, like the Internet."
VeriSign Service Offerings
VeriSign offers its certification services through the
company's online Digital ID Center, which operates 24 hours
a day, seven days a week from VeriSign's secure operations
center located in Mountain View, California. VeriSign's
Public Digital IDs are available to all Internet consumers
and businesses in ascending levels of assurance designated
as Class 1, 2 or 3. These IDs carry the VeriSign brand which
is quickly becoming the sign of trust on the Internet.
VeriSign Digital IDs are enabled in more than 50 Internet
applications including market leading products and services
from AOL, Netscape, Microsoft and Oracle. VeriSign also
offers Private Label Digital ID services built around
customized versions of the Digital ID Center for Fortune 500
companies in the financial services, publishing, healthcare
and transportation industries. By working with VeriSign as a
service provider, customers can leverage VeriSign's leading
technology, infrastructure and practices to gain
time-to-market, security and cost benefits while maintaining
full control over their customer relationships and brand
presence on the Internet.
VeriSign Inc.
VeriSign Inc. is the world's leading Internet
Certification Authority, the trusted third party that
authenticates, issues and manages digital certificates on
the Internet. VeriSign's Digital IDs enable trusted
electronic commerce by authenticating the individuals,
organizations and content involved in an electronic
transaction. VeriSign has issued its branded Digital IDs to
more than 16,000 web sites and 750,000 individuals and is
delivering customized Digital ID solutions to corporations
worldwide including Novus Services, Toppan Printing and Visa
International. VeriSign, headquartered in Mountain View,
Calif., was founded in April 1995. The company is privately
held and has been funded by strategic industry partners
including Ameritech, AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, First Data,
Gemplus, Intuit, Microsoft, Reuters, RSA, Security Dynamics,
Softbank and Visa. For more information, please visit the
VeriSign Web site at
http://www.verisign.com.
