VeriSign Intros Seal-in-Search to SSL Products

August 2, 2010

The new features, including VeriSign Seal-in-Search technology and daily web site malware scans, enable web site operators to deliver a trusted experience for online users from beginning to end, all while leveraging the VeriSign seal.

"In the face of increasingly elaborate attacks and fraud schemes, web sites need solutions that do more than data encryption," said Tim Callan, vice president of product marketing at VeriSign. "By enhancing our SSL Certificate services with new features that instill trust at every step of the online experience -- at no additional charge to our customers -- we're delivering a more robust and value-driven solution. In the process, we're redefining what web sites should expect from online security."

Chris Christiansen, program vice president for security products and services at IDC, said, "Companies rely heavily on the trust they are able to develop with customers, especially when it comes to the security of their transactions, interactions, and personal data. With the VeriSign Trust™ Seal, people will have more confidence that they will be protected from phishing attacks or receiving malware because they will be going to a legitimate web site when clicking on the site's link."

By combining the new enhancements with the existing strengths of VeriSign SSL Certificates in a single solution, VeriSign enables Internet users to:

•Trust the link: Even before consumers visit a VeriSign SSL-protected web site, new VeriSign Seal-in-Search helps web sites using VeriSign SSL stand out in a long list of search engine results. Now online users will see the VeriSign Trust™ Seal next to search results for sites protected by VeriSign SSL in popular search engines, shopping sites and online listings. Seal-in-Search is enabled by browser plug-ins that detect VeriSign trusted links in popular search engines, and also by partnerships with comparison shopping, listings, and other web sites. With Seal-in-Search, site operators can provide consumers a recognizable sign that their sites are trustworthy, while realizing significant search engine optimization advantages. A study by online mall TheFind.com found that search results bearing the VeriSign seal saw 18.5 percent more click-through traffic than results that did not.

•Trust the site: In addition to VeriSign's long-established practice of authenticating businesses that operate sites protected by SSL Certificates, VeriSign SSL services now include daily web site malware scans. Hackers use malware to spread viruses, hijack computers or steal sensitive data such as credit card numbers or other personal information. For site operators, a daily malware scan helps mitigate the risk of being attacked, lessens the likelihood that their site will be blacklisted by malware-sensitive search engines, and reduces the chances that their sites may infect a visitors' computer. How it works: The malware service will alert customers when VeriSign determines that their site has become infected. To assist customers with timely remediation, VeriSign will then provide information related to the pages that are infected, including the actual malware string.

•Trust the transaction: As it has for years, VeriSign provides SSL Certificates that enable the strongest SSL encryption commercially available to keep sensitive and private information from falling into the wrong hands. As the most respected and trusted SSL authority on the web, VeriSign is the SSL Certificate provider of choice for more than 1 million web servers. In fact, 93 percent of the Fortune 500 and 97 of the world's 100 largest SSL-using banks secure their sites with SSL Certificates provided by VeriSign and its subsidiaries.

"Every time a consumer selects a search engine result or clicks on a link to visit our store, they've made a decision that largely hinges on trust," said Hadleigh Reid, founder of BillTiger.com. "As a company that competes for business online, we have to do everything we can to demonstrate that we deserve the trust that consumer has placed in us, in our brand, and in our site. VeriSign's exciting new enhancements to its SSL services helps us earn and keep that trust, and it sets VeriSign apart from the pack by delivering far more value for the same price."