GeoTrust, Inc., a leader in identity verification solutions for e-business and the world's second largest issuer of SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates for web security, today cited the October 2004 Netcraft Secure Server Survey that shows GeoTrust overtaking the VeriSign brands, for the first time, in worldwide market share.

According to the Netcraft survey, GeoTrust gained 7,946 sites, or more than three times that of the next highest gainer, VeriSign, whose combined brands (Thawte, RSA Data Security and VeriSign Trust Network), recorded a 2,632 site net gain. Overall for the month of October, the number of SSL certificates was up sharply, with over 16,000 (or 5%) more sites found using valid third- party certificates than during the month of September.

"GeoTrust continues to see unprecedented growth for its SSL and client certificates in all of our markets," stated Neal Creighton, co-founder and CEO of GeoTrust. "The Netcraft survey shows that, for the first time, we have surpassed all SSL providers worldwide. In the top five SSL markets, GeoTrust showed strong growth against VeriSign's continued market share decline."

The market for digital certificates continues to expand, driven by an increase in e-commerce and the desire of an increasing number of corporations to open their networks to remote employees, customers and partners using applications such as secure portals. These companies are choosing SSL certificates to secure their servers and encrypt data during transactions, and they are increasingly purchasing their certificates from GeoTrust. GeoTrust's patent-pending domain control vetting has revolutionized the certificate issuance process; its QuickSSL(R) product line offers industry-leading 128-bit encryption with certificates issued in 10 minutes or less, against competitors' hours or days.

In addition to SSL certificates for e-commerce and web services security, GeoTrust offers a full line of digital certificates, including client certificates for secure access, code signing certificates for software developers and the recently announced certified signing solution for Adobe(R) Acrobat(R). GeoTrust markets its products via its retail site, a direct sales force and a large network of web hosting companies and resellers worldwide. Its customers include the world's largest hosting companies, Global 1000 companies, educational institutions and government agencies.