NETSCAPE CERTIFICATE SERVER 1.0 BETA FACT SHEET

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (December 20, 1996) -- Netscape Communications Corporation has released the public beta version of Netscape Certificate Server software for issuing digital certificates and safeguarding private online communications on Intranets. Netscape Certificate Server issues, signs and manages public-key certificates so organizations can communicate with greater safety over the Internet. In a class by itself, Netscape Certificate Server software enables mutually authenticated communications with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)-compliant Internet software such as Netscape Communicator client software and Netscape SuiteSpot servers.

Public-key certificates, or digital IDs, are a digital authentication mechanism similar to a driver's license or employee badge that can be used to verify someone's identity on the Internet. Certificates are a stronger form of authentication than user name and password and enable single user log-on to Web servers, Intranet applications and electronic mail. Netscape Certificate Server enables corporate MIS departments and others to act as their own certificate authority so they can generate, revoke, renew and otherwise manage certificates for Intranet clients and servers. A certificate authority is an entity that attests to the identity of a person or an organization and issues certificates attesting to that identity.

Netscape Certificate Server features include:

• Strong Intranet authentication. Netscape Certificate Server enables information technology (IT) teams to build full-service Intranets that incorporate safeguards for intellectual property and confidential communications. Netscape Certificate Server is a new class of Web server software that seamlessly integrates with Netscape clients and servers to create and manage a public-key infrastructure that can authenticate both clients and servers and provide such services as message privacy and access control.

• Single user log-on. Support for digital certificates in Netscape clients and servers means that users only have to remember one password to get access to the various web, mail, news, directory, and catalog servers used each day. Administrators can simply configure these servers to accept only certificates signed by a particular authority, rather than maintaining lengthy user name and password lists at each server

• Scalable certificate store. Netscape Certificate Server features a built-in INFORMIX-Online Workgroup server relational database for creating a high-performance and scalabale certificate store. The Informix database stores the life cycle of a certificate, including when it was created, who signed it, and whether it was revoked. Customizable policy templates simplify certificate management.

• Simple and protected administration. Network administrators can easily install and manage Netscape Certificate Server from remote locations on the Intranet or Internet using the point-and-click interface of Netscape Navigator or other web clients. The server protects administrative data via the SSL protocol, which provides encryption, message integrity and authentication services.

• Support for open standards. Netscape Certificate Server issues certificates for use with S/MIME and SSL-compliant clients and servers. It formulates, signs, and issues industry-standard X.509v3 public-key certificates, supports RSA public-key algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signatures and supports certificate requests using standards such as PKCS 10, HTML, and HTTP.

More information about Netscape Certificate Server can be found on the Netscape Internet Site at http://home.netscape.com/comprod/server_central/product/certificate/index.html. Detailed product information and software downloads instructions for the products in Netscape SuiteSpot is located at http://home.netscape.com/comprod/server_central/index.html.