COMODO, THE FIRST SSL CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY TO INTRODUCE A CUSTOMER FEEDBACK PLATFORM, WELCOMES VERISIGN’S RECENT MOVE TO OFFER A SIMILAR SERVICE

VeriSign’s move recognizes that Comodo’s vision to deliver new levels of online performance authentication to help online users assess the trustworthiness of online businesses is critical in today’s online environment.

Jersey City, NJ (March 18, 2008) – More and more online users are becoming frustrated with the lack of information available about online Merchants, including information on the Merchant’s ability to deliver purchased items, their customer service, their management and use of sensitive customer information, and the quality of merchandize being sold. As a result, consumers are looking for ways to authenticate site security and privacy policies along with information related to the performance of an eMerchant. To address this need, Comodo, a leading Certification Authority, launched UserTrust earlier this year, a free customer feedback platform for online merchants that gives them a clearer picture of an eMerchant’s key constituents, what motivates them, and how customers can be better served. This platform is free to online businesses because, as a visionary Certification Authority, Comodo understands that online merchants will be more successful if they can harness customer feedback to drive online conversion. VeriSign’s recent announcement to offer a feedback platform similar to Comodo’s (though not as a free platform) allows more E-Merchant to deliver important performance authentication information online commerce.

As a leading Certification Authority, Comodo’s continuous innovations provide site visitors with various levels of authentication information including site identity, site security, and business performance of an eMerchant. For instance, Comodo, through the CA/Browser Forum, championed the need to provide more overt site identity information resulting in the creation of Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates which include a visual green URL indicator in IE7 for identity authentication. Comodo then added UserTrust as a performance authentication tool for online businesses in order to help organizations achieve greater efficiency by leveraging customer feedback. Using the customer feedback, E-Merchant can optimize conversion of new customers and remediate negative customer experiences. Further, this type of platform can:

• Demonstrate a site’s commitment to a high level of service and security which increases confidence in consumers and prospective buyers.
• Differentiate one site from a competitor’s by displaying the UserTrust seal, a trusted symbol recognized by end users
• Provide consumers and online browsers a standard recognized symbol they can trust to learn more about a business and what they can expect.

” We believe that as online visitors look for increasing ways to verify a merchant’s performance, we can help users make informed decisions about who they will trust, ” Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO and Chief Security Architect of Comodo, said. ” More informed site visitors create a more trusted internet. Therefore, we welcome VeriSign’s decision to follow in our footsteps in enabling this level of performance authentication and strengthening the innovative vision we have for creating a Trusted Internet. ”

About Comodo

The Comodo companies provide the infrastructure that is essential in enabling e-merchants, other Internet-connected companies, software companies, and individual consumers to interact and conduct business via the Internet safely and securely. The Comodo companies offer PKI SSL , Code Signing , Content Verification and Email Certificate ; award winning PC Security software; Vulnerability Scanning services for PCI Compliance ; secure e-mail and fax services.

Continual innovation, a core competence in PKI, and a commitment to reversing the growth of Internet-crime distinguish the Comodo companies as vital players in the Internet’s ongoing development. Comodo secures and authenticates online transactions and communications for over 200,000 business customers and 3,000,000 users of our desktop security products.

For additional information on Comodo – Creating Trust Online® visit Comodo.com

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