(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — With the influx of identity theft and other online criminal activities, security has always been one of the leading concerns for Internet consumers and businesses.
However, these concerns are not restricted solely to e-commerce firms which process transactions on their websites.
Non-profits, government agencies, and other organizations that do not necessarily collect private information are also looking to maintain the same level of security so that individuals will feel comfortable visiting their websites.
VeriSign (www.verisign.com) decided to address this issue with the launch of VeriSign Trust Seal (www.verisign.com/ssl/secured-seal) at last month’s Parallels Summit 2010.
Modelled after the Secured Seal brand, the VeriSign Trust Seal ensures that companies that do not require SSL certificates will have the same level of confidence as sites protected by SSL certificates. The seal is designed to increase confidence, traffic, and transactions for these sites.
“For the past 15 years VeriSign has been selling SSL certificates to all types of companies,” says VeriSign’s Fran Rosch, senior vice president authentication at VeriSign. “Over the past several years a lot of smaller, medium sized companies that don’t do transactions on the Internet have come to so they can display the VeriSign seal on their site to drive that level of credibility and trust to their user base.”
VeriSign Trust Seal authenticates the business and domain control which ensures the users that the website belongs to the original business and is not a spam.
Additionally, the seal performs scanning on a daily basis to keep a check on malicious code, malware or other suspicious programs.
By delivering these two functions, Rosch believes that the VeriSign Trust Seal distinguishes itself from its competitors to offer a “truly unique” service.
“I believe that the standard with McAfee vulnerability scan is monthly or quarterly, whereas we’re offering this malware scan every single day to ensure that this site is protected,” says Rosch. “I think it’s a pretty unique combination of services. Also, I think the VeriSign brand has been out on the Internet for quite some time and it has a higher consumer recognition level than any of the other brands.”
Another feature is that the trust seal appears in search results along with the company name so users can be assured about the safety even before they open the company website. The seal also helps to differentiate the company results.
Currently being offered in the US with worldwide availability expected soon, VeriSign Trust Seal is priced at $299 per year or about $25 a month.
Businesses in the SMB market are expected to be the largest customers for the seal.
“We think from a pricing standpoint you’re getting the added security, services like the malware, along with the business benefits of increased transactions, and actually increase traffic, which is really the holy grail for small and medium businesses on the Internet,” says Rosch.
VeriSign will later offer the new seal through its reseller partnerships, as well as bundled with its SSL certificates.
As VeriSign preps new features to be added to Trust Seal in the near future, Rosch believes that in the end, most customers are more concerned about having piece of mind than learning all the intricacies of the seal’s technology.
“We believe that consumers aren’t going to understand the difference between malware scan and vulnerability scan,” says Rosch. “They certainly don’t understand the nuances behind the impressions technologies. They just want to be able to see that check mark and know that they’re going to be safe and secure.”
