GlobalSign Launches Website Malware Monitoring And Alert Solutions

PRESS RELEASE

Boston, MA – February 14 2011 – GlobalSign (www.globalsign.com), one of the leading providers of Digital Certificates worldwide, today announced that it will begin offering theHackAlert malware monitoring solution. The HackAlert service, powered by GlobalSign strategic partner Armorize Technologies, identifies drive-by downloads and provides alarms for "zero-day" malware threats hidden in websites, protecting website owners and their customers from the damaging effects of malware. The HackAlert monitoring service will be bundled into GlobalSign SSL Certificates at no extra charge and will also be offered as a standalone solution for enterprises and hosting companies for wide scale non-SSL site monitoring.

Malware distribution (viruses, Trojans, spyware etc.) has become a key issue for website owners, as drive-by-download attacks are on the rise and malware distribution techniques are becoming increasingly effective. Web malware (Drive-by downloads) is reaching epidemic proportions with serious effects for website owners as well as end customers. Malware on the victim’s PC is often designed to steal personal data or turn the machine into a member of a “zombie” army to be rented out in distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. The building of networks of "zombie" computers provides incredible power to hackers on the Internet, as the recent Wikileaks story has shown where an anonymous group of hackers carried out successful attacks on the VISA, Mastercard, and the Swiss Postbank networks in retaliation to their refusal to continue servicing the Wikileaks foundation.

Malicious code injected into unsuspecting websites is also highly damaging for the website owner’s corporate reputation. An infected website may be flagged by search engines like Google, which are taking a very serious view of any website distributing malware. Search engines alert potential visitors of the danger of visiting the site in search results and via the browser interface, immediately driving down website traffic, and in turn revenues. Without appropriate malware monitoring measures, websites may implicitly contribute to the compromise of their own customers' sensitive data, potentially leading to very real financial losses.

GlobalSign will bundle free malware monitoring with its entire range of SSL Certificates and Managed SSL platform, rendering the highest levels of website security easily accessible to its customer base. GlobalSign’s SSL Certificate customers will be able to immediately benefit from the protection of the HackAlert service as standard and at no additional cost. HackAlert malware monitoring visits the website like a customer, identifies any signs of compromise and instantly alerts the web site owner, facilitating timely removal of any malicious code that may have been injected. The HackAlert service sets a new standard in comprehensive website security, protecting both website visitors and corporate reputation.

The GlobalSign HackAlert service is also available to the GlobalSign Partner network, allowing ISP's, Web Hosts, Integrators, Domain Registrars and VARs to protect their infrastructure and their customers from malware threats. Through the GlobalSign Partner Program, partners can easily expand their product portfolios and generate new revenue streams while ensuring the highest levels of security within their networks.

“GlobalSign is delighted to be able to provide the HackAlert malware monitoring technology to our customer base, helping to raise awareness of zero-day threats, as well as responding to increasing customer demand for web based protection services,” said Steve Waite, CMO, GMO GlobalSign Inc. “We are dedicated to helping organizations implement robust malware monitoring to complement their use of SSL and other web security technologies to protect their customers, their search engine traffic and their corporate brand.”

“GlobalSign is taking online data security to the next level with this initiative. SSL is critical in ensuring the security of data in-transit, and preventing customer data compromise through installation of malicious software on customer PCs adds great value to the total security offering provided by GlobalSign,” said Jordan Forssman, Director of Business Development, Armorize Technologies. “In a world where a credit card number can reach as much as $15 on the black market, organized crime has a vested interest in maximizing the volume of infected PCs, making every site on the web a target for drive-by download attacks.”

For more information visit http://www.globalsign.com/ssl/malware-scanning/. GlobalSign will be launching its malware offering at the RSA Conference in San Francisco Feb 14 to 18 2011 – find GlobalSign at booth 657 for more information.

About GMO GlobalSign Established in 1996 and as a WebTrust accredited public certificate authority, GlobalSign offers publicly trusted SSL Certificates, EV SSL, Managed SSL Services, S/MIME email security and Code Signing for use on all platforms including mobile devices. Its Trusted Root solution uses the widely embedded GlobalSign Root CA certificates to provide immediate PKI trust for Microsoft Certificate Services and internal PKI, eliminating the costs of using untrusted Root Certificates. Its partnership with Adobe to provide Certified Document Services (CDS) enables secure digitally signed PDF documents, certified transcripts and e-invoices. These core Digital Certificate solutions allow its thousands of authenticated customers to conduct secure online transactions, data transfer, distribution of tamper-proof code, and protection of online identities for secure email and access control. The company has a history of innovation within the online security industry and has offices in the US, UK, Belgium, Japan, and China.

GMO Internet Group GMO Internet Group, headquartered in Japan, is a leading force in the Internet industry offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of Internet services worldwide. The group holds top domestic market share in domain registration, web hosting, and payment processing and provides a host of other Internet services including global online security services, e-commerce solutions, and Internet advertising to both businesses and individuals. At the center of the group is GMO Internet, Inc. a company listed on the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE: 9449). Please visit www.gmo.jp/en for further details.