Network Associates to Ship Comprehensive PKI From Xcert International with All Security Product Suites Network Associates Customers to Receive Scalable Open-Standards Certificate Management Integrated Into Net Tools Secure Product Line SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: NETA - news) unveiled the next step in its integrated security strategy today by announcing a technology partnership with Xcert International that will bring full open-standards PKI (public key infrastructure) functionality to all Network Associates customers as a standard feature of its integrated security product suites. Beginning in the first quarter of 1999, all integrated security suites from Network Associates will include the new Net Tools PKI server, an enterprise-scaleable PKI server based on Xcert's award-winning digital certificate management technology. ``Network Associates has been very aggressive in driving much needed open standards and interoperability in the security space,'' said Sanjay Kalra, president of Icons, Inc., a leading nationwide PKI consulting firm. ``By working with Xcert to include a complete standards-based PKI in all of their security application suites at no extra charge, Network Associates is making things like universal client VPNs and active response firewalls a reality for customers of all sizes. This announcement is the perfect follow-up to their previous PKI partnerships with VeriSign and Entrust.'' As a result of this partnership, Network Associates customers will be able to broadly deploy integrated security solutions that interoperate through secure and authenticated channels. With this announcement, Network Associates becomes the first vendor to enable secure, scaleable integration between individual security applications by providing flexible PKI functionality out of the box and universally supporting existing PKI solutions like those from partners like VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN - news), Entrust Technologies (Nasdaq: ENTU - news) and Xcert. Network Associates customers will be licensed to use the new Net Tools PKI with any Network Associates application. Under the terms of the agreement, Network Associates will integrate Xcert's award-winning PKI technology into its Net Tools Secure product line, a suite of best-in-class security applications spanning firewall, intrusion protection, vulnerability scanning, encryption, authentication, anti-virus, and security management. Xcert's flexible open architecture has received multiple industry accolades this year, including a recent Editor's Choice selection from Network Computing that praised Xcert's technology as the ``best strategic choice for PKI in the enterprise.'' Xcert's technology was selected by Network Associates because of its broad support of all industry PKI standards, including x.509, PGP, LDAP, and PKCS #7, 10, and 11. ``Network Associates is committed to promoting broad interoperability and open standards in the security industry,'' said Peter Watkins, general manager of the Net Tools Secure division at Network Associates. ``This agreement makes it even easier for our customers to deploy scaleable, standards-based, security applications that work together in concert to actively respond to changing security threats.'' ``This technology license agreement expands Network Associates' best-of-breed security offerings to include the industrial-strength PKI necessary for conducting business-to-business electronic commerce and communications,'' said Thomas Nolan, President and CEO of Xcert International. ``Network Associates customers will be able to broadly deploy distributed security applications, regardless of whether or not they have a general PKI solution. Because Xcert's technology supports all certificate standards, Network Associates customers will also be able to interact seamlessly with business partners who have disparate PKI solutions in use.'' While other security application vendors have recently discussed plans to integrate their products, none have addressed universal PKI support, an essential element to making integrated security a secure and scaleable reality for enterprise customers. As a result of this agreement, Network Associates customers will be able to broadly deploy distributed security applications such as remote VPN and client-side encryption across large user populations. The new Net Tools PKI will also support more robust certificate management for authenticated communications between integrated Network Associates security applications. Through a concept known as ``Active Security,'' Network Associates is enabling its security products to operate in concert, actively communicating events between applications and adapting security policies of these applications for real-time active response when critical security threats are detected. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Network Associates, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise network security and management software. Network Associates' Net Tools Secure and Net Tools Manager offer best-of-breed, suite-based network security and management solutions. Net Tools Secure and Net Tools Manager suites combine to create Net Tools, which centralizes these point solutions within an easy-to-use integrated systems management environment. For more information, Network Associates can be reached at (408) 988-3832 or on the Internet at http://www.nai.com. Based in Walnut Creek, California, Xcert International Inc. is the premier developer of Public Key Infrastructure technology. Xcert's products provide privacy and authenticity for conducting secure Internet business transactions. Xcert develops, manufactures and distributes Certificate Authority and public key infrastructure solutions that use secure directory services to provide organizations and individuals with a ubiquitous and secure method of communicating with each other over the Internet. Xcert also licenses its underlying PKI technology to selected service providers and third party developers worldwide. Xcert can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.xcert.com. ----- Vin McLellan + The Privacy Guild + <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 53 Nichols St., Chelsea, MA 02150 USA <617> 884-5548 -- <@><@> --