Visitors to www.HNGirlScouts.org  can be assured that they have reached a legitimate Girl Scout council page – and not a fake page created by e-criminals to steal credit card numbers and other sensitive information. That’s because the Hornets’ Nest Council is protecting its site with VeriSign Extended Validation (EV) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates.

When consumers using Internet Explorer 7 visit sites protected with VeriSign EV SSL, the address bar in their browser turns green. This provides an immediately recognizable signal that they’ve reached a Web site they can trust.

The extended online protections come as Hornets’ Nest Council, which serves more than 14,000 girls in parts of North and South Carolina, launches its “Cookies for the Troops” donation drive. The campaign began in 2002 and has enabled local residents to send more than 125,000 boxes of favorite Girl Scout cookies to military personnel serving overseas. In addition, Girl Scouts, their parents, and volunteers can purchase uniforms and accessories on the EV SSL-secured Web site.

“When Girl Scouts, their families, and their supporters visit our Web site, we want them to instantly recognize that they’re really dealing with the genuine article,” said Sally Daley, executive vice president at Girl Scouts, Hornets’ Nest Council. “By upgrading our protection measures to VeriSign EV SSL, we can offer that extra layer of security, signified by the green address bar. With VeriSign and the Girl Scouts, green means go.”

In addition to turning the address bar green, VeriSign EV SSL technology also enables high-security browsers to display other visual cues, including a lock icon next to the address, and a new field that contains the name of the organization that owns the site as well as the security provider that issued the certificate, such as VeriSign.

“For organizations like the Girl Scouts, trust is everything,” said Tim Callan, vice president of SSL product marketing at VeriSign. “Hornets’ Nest Council is showing remarkable vision by taking steps to help protect cookie donors, council members, parents and supporters from the threat of identity theft. With VeriSign EV SSL Certificates, they can communicate that protection every time someone visits their Web site. For supporters wanting to donate cookies to military troops, or for Girl Scouts purchasing new uniforms, that reassurance is valuable beyond measure.”

As the most respected and trusted SSL authority on the Web, VeriSign is the EV SSL Certificate provider of choice for more than 2,500 Internet domains, representing greater than 75 percent of the entire EV SSL Certificate market worldwide. In fact, over 93 percent of the Fortune 500 – and the world’s 40 largest banks – rely on some form of VeriSign SSL Certificate to meet their security needs. To learn more about VeriSign EV SSL, visit http://www.verisign.com/EV-SSL

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), operates digital infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.

Contacts

Media: Christina Rohall, crohall@verisign.com, 650-426-5219

Investor Relations: Nancy Fazioli, ir@verisign.com, 650-426-5146

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as the inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market products and services and customer acceptance of any products or services, including VeriSign’s Extended Validation SSL Certificates and solutions, the possibility that VeriSign’s announced services may not result in additional customers, profits or revenues; and increased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

©2008 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. VeriSign, the VeriSign logo, the checkmark circle, and other trademarks, service marks, and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc., and its subsidiaries in the United States and in foreign countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Melissa Cobb

Account Executive

Weber Shandwick
150 Mathilda Place, Suite 302
Sunnyvale, CA 94086 
Main: 408-685-0600
Direct: 408-685-0602 
Fax: 408-685-0601
Mobile: 650-464-1177
E-mail: melissa.cobb@webershandwick.com http://www.webershandwick.com