Certicom Hosts First Annual ECC Conference

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/10-20-2004/0002289069&EDATE=>

Certicom Hosts First Annual ECC Conference
                         
    Industry experts, the creators of ECC and users convene in Toronto to
    discuss best practices and growing adoption of Elliptic Curve
    Cryptography

    MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Certicom Corp.
(TSX: CIC), the authority for strong, efficient cryptography, today announced
it will host the Certicom ECC Conference 2004, the first-ever conference that
brings together Elliptic Curve Cryptography researchers, industry experts and
users. During the two-day conference, participants from North America, Europe
and Asia will discuss the growing adoption of ECC and share best
implementation practices and insights for future applications. The conference
begins with an evening reception on November 15 with sessions running
November 16-17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, Canada.
    Keynote speakers include Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of Research
In Motion, and Dr. Scott Vanstone, Certicom founder and EVP strategic
technology. Also participating are Norm Kern, Unisys; Dr. Jerry Krasner of
Embedded Market Forecasters; Herb Little, Research In Motion; Dr. Ralph
Merkle, Georgia Tech; and Dr. Leon Pintsov, Pitney Bowes. During the
conference, Certicom will present recognition awards to ECC creators Dr. Neal
Koblitz, University of Washington and Dr. Victor Miller, Institute for Defense
Analyses Center for Communication Research, as well as an ECC visionary award
to Dr. Walt Davis, Motorola (retired).
    ECC, which is often referred to as the next-generation public-key
cryptography system, is used in a growing number of sectors ranging from
consumer electronics, wireless devices and semiconductors to government and
financial services. Specifically, its implementations protect content,
securely transmit data and digitally sign documents. The small size of ECC is
a main driver behind its growing adoption. It provides equivalent security to
competing public-key cryptosystems but at a fraction of the size, making it
ideally suited for resource-constrained devices such as smart phones,
semiconductors and smart cards.
    Software developers, hardware engineers, and anyone responsible for
buying or implementing cryptographic systems will benefit from this conference
and the free exchange of practical ideas and real-world lessons. They also
will gain insights into future applications of ECC, including standards and
protocols.
    "This conference is a dynamic forum for ECC proponents to get together
and engage in open discussions about the technology: its roots, how it is used
today and where it's going," said Scott Vanstone. "We've pulled together a
stellar roster of the who's who in the ECC world and representatives from some
of North America's leading companies. This conference promises to advance the
understanding of ECC and accelerate its adoption."

    To register or for more information, visit
 http://www.certicom.com/conference2004/registration .

    About Certicom
    Certicom Corp. (TSX:CIC) is the authority for strong, efficient
cryptography required by software vendors and device manufacturers to embed
security in their products. Adopted by the US Government's National Security
Agency (NSA), Certicom technologies for Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
provide the most security per bit of any known public key scheme, making it
ideal for constrained environments. Certicom products and services are
currently licensed to more than 300 customers including Motorola, Oracle,
Research In Motion, Terayon, Texas Instruments and Unisys. Founded in 1985,
Certicom is headquartered in Mississauga, ON, Canada, with offices in Ottawa,
ON; Reston, VA; San Mateo, CA; and London, England. Visit
http://www.certicom.com .

    Certicom, Certicom Security Architecture, Certicom CodeSign, Security
Builder, Security Builder Middleware, Security Builder API, Security Builder
Crypto, Security Builder SSL, Security Builder PKI, and Security Builder GSE
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Certicom Corp. Intel is registered
trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and
other countries. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks
or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

    Except for historical information contained herein, this news release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Actual results may differ materially. Factors that might cause a difference
include, but are not limited to, those relating to the acceptance of mobile
and wireless devices and the continued growth of e-commerce and m-commerce,
the increase of the demand for mutual authentication in m-commerce
transactions, the acceptance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) technology
as an industry standard, the market acceptance of our principal products and
sales of our customer's products, the impact of competitive products and
technologies, the possibility of our products infringing patents and other
intellectual property of fourth parties, and costs of product development.
Certicom will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential
factors that could affect Certicom's financial results is included in the
documents Certicom files from time to time with the Canadian securities
regulatory authorities.


 SOURCE Certicom Corp.

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-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'