Diversinet Becomes Ubiq-uitous

Security solutions provider Diversinet Corp. (Nasdaq: DVNT) has announced a $1 million (US$) common stock deal to acquire the operating assets of Ubiq Communications Inc., and to accelerate its presence in the wireless e-commerce arena. The companies will collectively focus on a wireless trading initiative in collaboration with financial institutions.

Under the terms of the deal, Diversinet will pick up Ubiq’s interactive wireless messaging application systems. Additionally, the acquisition will serve to fuel Diversinet’s drive to enhance its presence in the end-to-end security solutions market for content providers and aggregators, device manufacturers, software developers, systems integrators and wireless operators. The company is also looking to channel Ubiq’s applications development and systems integration “know-how” into future product releases.

“With Ubiq’s experience in applications development and Diversinet’s experience in security products, we expect to launch a variety of innovative products in the wireless arena during the next 12 months,” commented William Hefferan, president and CEO of Ubiq.

“The Ubiq-Diversinet alliance will create excitement about wireless e-commerce and help jump-start new products that leverage the synergies of our two companies and our partners in North America and abroad,” added Hefferan. The Diversinet acquisition of Ubiq is expected to close by October 31st.

Passport To Secure Wireless E-Commerce

Passport software, developed and distributed by Diversinet, is the star product offering. The software utilizes encryption along with digital certificates, permissions and signatures to ensure the integrity of wireless Web transactions and communications.

The technology is designed for wireless devices and other bandwidth-constrained products such as smart cards. “Without an enhanced level of security, none of the exciting wireless e-commerce applications will succeed because users won’t trust the safety of their transactions,” commented Nagy Moustafa, Diversinet president and CEO.

“Diversinet’s software provides trust through our patented technology to ensure that buyers and sellers are authenticated,” added Moustafa. “The software also provides an ‘audit trail’ that’s vital if the transaction is ever disputed.”

The security firm last week announced a strategic partnership with BellSouth Wireless Data to develop and offer secure end-to-end e-commerce solutions based on Passport. Customers of the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network will have access to Diversinet’s services, which offer secure wireless data applications such as banking, healthcare, shopping and stock trading.

In Other Online Security News

Georgi Guninski, an eastern European programmer who has made a name for himself by testing Microsoft products, grabbed tech headlines again this week by publicizing a couple of new bugs in the Internet Explorer 5 (IE5) Web browser.

The first bug reported could allow a malicious Web site operator to read and alter files on a system running IE5. A feature of the software that is known as “Download Behavior” provides the potential entry point for an attacker, granting unauthorized access during an Internet surfing session.

The other bug disclosed by Guninski involves controls — associated with the often-problematic ActiveX technology — that could also be utilized by an attacker to seize control of some system functions. IE5 users are urged to check the Microsoft Security Advisor page to obtain fix information.