Media Contacts: Joan Lockhart …

Media Contacts:
Joan Lockhart                                        Liz Serotte
GeoTrust, Inc.                                       Schwartz Communications, Inc.
781-292-4153                                         781-684-0770
joanl@geotrust.com                                   geotrust@schwartz-pr.com


      GeoTrust Provides Seamless Security Solutions to Help Financial
            Institutions Meet New Online Banking Guidelines

   Publishes White Paper on Digital Solutions -- from Digital Credentials to Consumer
   Verification and Anti-Phishing Tools -- to Help Financial Institutions Comply with
                           FFIEC Authentication Guidelines

NEEDHAM, Mass.--January 18, 2005--GeoTrust, Inc., a leader in identity verification
solutions for e-business and a leading issuer of digital certificates for web security, today
announced it has published a white paper that details how financial institutions can use a
variety of credentialing, consumer verification and anti-phishing solutions to meet the
recently published Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) updated
authentication guidance for online banking. With the increase in phishing and online fraud,
the council is recommending that financial institutions move to stronger forms of
authentication than user name and passwords by the end of 2006.

"These guidelines are welcome news to consumers who want to feel safer online. But they
are not without significant challenges for the institutions who must implement them by the
end of this year," stated GeoTrust CEO, Neal Creighton. "We believe that online security is
most effective when implemented in many areas, from consumer awareness tools to strong
authentication at log-in. That's why we offer a range of cost-effective and easily deployed
digital identity verification and authentication solutions. And that's why GeoTrust offers
consumers a free anti-phishing toolbar and search site, www.trustwatch.com."

The FFIEC is an interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards
and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions. It is made up of the
following institutions: the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and is
charged with making recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial
institutions.

On October 12, 2005, the FFIEC released updated guidance on the risks and risk
management controls necessary to authenticate the identity of customers accessing Internet-
based financial services. The guidance, Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment,
was issued to reflect the many significant legal and technological changes with respect to the
                                              GeoTrust Helps Banks Meet Federal Security Guidelines
                                                                                            Page 2

protection of customer information, increasing incidents of identity theft and fraud, and the
introduction of improved authentication technologies and other risk mitigation strategies.

GeoTrust's white paper, Creating a Multi-Layered Security Environment as a Means to
Safer Online Banking, looks at a range of authentication solutions with a focus on digital
credentials. These solutions have many benefits including ease of deployment, cost savings,
automated processes, instantaneous credential issuance, and most importantly, they are
minimally disruptive to the consumer experience. The white paper also examines the value
of stronger identity verification for account activation and consumer anti-phishing and anti-
fraud tools to provide additional layers of trust. A copy of the white paper may be
downloaded from www.geotrust.com.

GeoTrust solutions that can help financial institutions comply with the FFIEC
recommendations include:

   SSL Certificates: GeoTrust SSL certificates allow Financial Institutions to secure
   servers used for Web sites, intranets, extranets and other online applications quickly and
   cost-effectively so customers can conduct secure online transactions with confidence.

   True Credentials® A fully-managed, web-based digital credential service that
   safeguards communication and data exchange, True Credentials provides secure network
   access to users for online banking applications. Credentials can be placed directly on
   user computers, smart cards or tokens. True Credentials also enables secure messaging
   and S/MIME and supports digital signature applications.

   Corporate IDTM: A personalized identification solution offered in a managed services
   environment allowing client certificates to be stored on smart cards, tokens or as
   software on a user's personal computing device.

   True IdentityTM: An ideal solution for first-time user verification in online banking
   applications, True Identity leverages GeoTrust's unique partnership with Equifax to
   compare user-provided information against three powerful verification databases to
   provide back a level of "identity certainty" about new account users to Financial
   Institutions. The entire verification process can be completed online in minutes.

   TrustWatch®: A free toolbar and search site that helps consumers recognize whether a
   site has been verified and is safe for the exchange of confidential information.
   TrustWatch helps consumers avoid becoming victims of web-based fraud, identity theft
   and phishing scams.

For additional information, visit www.geotrust.com or contact GeoTrust at 866-511-4141
(press 3).
                                                   GeoTrust Helps Banks Meet Federal Security Guidelines
                                                                                                 Page 3



About GeoTrust, Inc.
GeoTrust is a leader in identity verification and trust services for e-business, and the fastest
growing Certificate Authority, according to market research firm Netcraft. Its products
include web security services for secure e-commerce transactions, identity verification,
managed security services and TrustWatch (www.TrustWatch.com), a free toolbar and
search site that helps consumers recognize whether a site has been verified and is safe for
the exchange of confidential information. With more than 100,000 companies worldwide
using its technology for online security, GeoTrust has rapidly become the second largest
digital certificate provider in the world. Visit www.geotrust.com for more information.

                                                  ###
GeoTrust and TrustWatch are registered trademarks of GeoTrust, Inc. All other product names are trademarks
or registered trademarks of their respective owners.