Diversinet Delivers Secure Wireless E-Commerce To Europe

Security software solutions provider Diversinet Corp. (Nasdaq: DVNT) has entered into a strategic relationship with London-based Dynamical Systems Research (DSR) to ensure the integrity of wireless e-commerce transactions in the European market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Diversinet will license its Passport Certificate Server product to the wireless data solutions supplier and its Catapult WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) gateway. The deal will cover an array of applications, including wireless banking, shopping and stock trading.

“Mobile banking and transaction based services will be a major growth area for the wireless industry, and by using Diversinet’s certificate software, DSR enables WAP service providers to generate additional revenue channels for banking and mobile commerce,” said Dr. Janko Mrsic-Flogel, managing director of DSR, London.

Phone-Commerce 2000

Diversinet and DSR have agreed to work with Nokia, initiating a pilot program in early 2000 to test the use of digital certificates for what Diversinet calls “the new generation of WAP phones.” Additionally, the two companies will research other potential areas of collaborations, including the establishment of a new Certificate Authority (CA) for guaranteeing the validity of certificates.

“By working with DSR, we gain a valuable partner in the European market who is an expert in the burgeoning WAP market,” commented Nagy Moustafa, president and CEO of Diversinet. “Our relationship with DSR further enhances our leadership in providing security solutions, especially for WAP products in the global wireless arena.”

Passport From Wired To Wireless World

The Passport software product utilizes encryption along with digital certificates, permissions and signatures to ensure the integrity of wireless Web transactions and communications. Version 3 of the Diversinet Passport Certificate Server will be commercially available later this month.

According to Diversinet, the Passport Certificate Server issues WAP WTLS 1.1 (Wireless Transport Layer Security) certificates. WTLS is a wireless version of TLS, a wireline standard for secure communications that upgrades the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) standard.

Digital certificates authenticate both the content provider, such as a brokerage firm, and the end user, safeguarding wireless transactions.

WAP is the de facto standard protocol for transmitting data applications across wireless networks, according to Diversinet. Analysts predict that by 2003, there will be more than one billion wireless phones worldwide, and as many as 50 percent will be able to access data services.

Team Expansions

This week, Diversinet brought two former Ubiq Communications, Inc. senior executives onto its management team.

Bill Hefferan will become the new Diversinet vice president for its North American wireless group, working with secure financial services. Abdul Nabi will assume responsibilities as CTO and will additionally be in charge of strategic developments in the company’s Silicon Valley office.

Diversinet acquired Ubiq in a 1 million (US$) common stock deal in September. “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,” Hefferan said at the time.

The Penguin Grabs a Piece of the Wireless Action

In other news, wireless application service provider datalink.net (OTC BB: NETD) announced this week that it will be releasing a version of its XpressLink Application Server platform for Linux.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Datalink.net to service our enterprise partners who decide to use a Linux operating system,” commented Anthony LaPine, Chairman and CEO of Datalink.net. “The anticipated growth of Linux as an enterprise operating system creates a new market segment for Datalink.net.”

Datalink.net is a provider of “Web-to-Wireless convergence,” offering a suite of products and services for both the B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business) markets.