---

Ideal Technology Solutions and VeriSign Join Forces

1 September 1999

Ideal Technology Solutions and VeriSign Join Forces to Offer Secure Business-to-Business Extranet for Auto Industry

    VeriSign Services Enable Secure Communication and Transactions Between
                 Automotive Manufacturers and Their Suppliers

    DETROIT, Sept. 1 -- Ideal Technology Solutions, U.S.
(ITS US) and VeriSign, Inc. , the world's leading provider of
Internet trust services, today announced an agreement to provide trust
services for the Automotive Network Exchange (ANX), enabling safe and private
communications and transactions between automotive manufacturers and their
suppliers.  The ANX is a business-to-business extranet designed to enable
members such as Ford, General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler, and their suppliers to
improve business productivity, reduce time to market, and streamline supply
chain management by providing efficient secure online commerce between these
manufacturers and suppliers.
    Enterprises and business communities are building large-scale extranets to
improve efficiencies in their supply-chain management, inventory tracking,
order placement, and business management applications.  As these extranets are
being rolled out to thousands to tens-of-thousands of customers, partners,
suppliers, and employees, there is a need for quick and easy deployment of a
secure infrastructure using electronic credentials.  VeriSign's digital
certificate services address this critical need and provide businesses of all
sizes with the ability to rapidly build and deploy secure access control
capabilities into their applications and extranets virtually overnight.
    ITS US has developed the initial ANX dial service, a solution which will
expand system utilization beyond the direct ANX connectivity presently
available.  As part of its innovative ANX dial service arrangement, ITS US
will serve as the registration authority to Companies, individuals and devices
connecting to the automotive VPN via its dial service offering.
    As part of this process, ITS US will leverage the VeriSign processing
center and public key infrastructure (PKI) backbone.  VeriSign will provide
the online trust services, the electronic credentials that enable secure
access control allowing only authorized users on the ANX.  Additionally,
VeriSign provides the expertise to build a scalable and manageable
authentication system that is capable of growing to meet the demands of the
ANX.
    "A recent survey of the ANX customer-base and input from various Auto
Industry supply chain experts have identified the need for a secure entry
point to ANX dial service," said Don Hedeen, Director of the ANX Program Group
for the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG).  "This service will enable
automotive suppliers to economically meet their low-bandwidth
telecommunications needs within the ANX environment."
    "The ANX extranet is an innovative solution that benefits all of its
trading partners by allowing for real-time online commerce," said Richard
Yanowitch, executive vice president of marketing for VeriSign.  "The
integration of VeriSign's digital certificate services to allow for enhanced
authentication, privacy, and the use of non-alterable digital signatures, is a
further benefit, making these transactions safe and secure."
    The ITS US/VeriSign e-business vision for the automotive industry will be
displayed at Auto-Tech on September 1st at Booth #510.  Auto-Tech provides a
glimpse of 21st century IT technology, demonstrating its effect on the future
of the automotive industry.  For more information go to http://www.itsusnow.com or
http://www.verisign.com.

    About ITS US
    Ideal Technology Solutions, U.S. is a premier E-Business Service Provider
-- delivering Connectivity, Security, Managed Hosting and an array of
Applications Services.

    VeriSign, Inc.
    VeriSign, Inc. is the leading provider of Internet trust services and
digital certificate solutions needed by Web sites, enterprises, and
individuals in order to conduct trusted and secure electronic commerce and
communications over IP networks.  VeriSign's digital certificate services for
Web sites and consumers are available through the company's Web site at
http://www.verisign.com and a growing number of ISPs and Web hosting companies.  The
company's digital certificate services for enterprises and electronic commerce
service providers are available through regional account representatives,
resellers, and global affiliates.
    NOTE:  VeriSign is a registered trademark exclusively licensed to VeriSign
Inc.  OnSite is a service mark of VeriSign Inc.  All other trademarks are
properties of their respective owners.