WISeKey ELA Reaches Significant Milestones in its Cooperation with Microsoft Spain and IT Deusto to Accelerate the Mass Market Deployment of Digital Identities in Spanish Speaking Countries

WISeKey ELA Reaches Significant Milestones in its Cooperation with Microsoft Spain and IT Deusto to Accelerate the Mass Market Deployment of Digital Identities in Spanish Speaking Countries

November 16, 2006

    MADRID, Nov. 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- WISeKey ELA, the
WISeKey Affiliate for Spain and Latin America announces
today in Madrid a Strategic Partnership with Microsoft and
IT Deusto for the deployment of the CertifyID BlackBox line
of security solutions. This announcement follows WISeKey's
recent nomination by Microsoft as a global Lead Partner for
eID Solutions. Microsoft Spain, WISeKey ELA and IT Deusto
will jointly develop plans to address specific vertical
market segments with attractive eID solutions.

    Both the public sector and the private sector in Spain
and Latin America are looking to upgrade their Identity
Documents (from national ID cards to employee badges) so as
to address higher security requirements to protect and
prevent against identity theft, online counterfeiting and
criminal misuse of information. Microsoft, WISeKey ELA and
IT Deusto enable individuals, organizations and governments
to leverage their current server infrastructure investment
by adding functionalities of secure electronic identities
through the CertifyID infrastructure in a straightforward,
quick and cost effective way.

    "Having partnered with Microsoft since 2004 and as
an active member of the Government Leaders Forum, we are
very pleased to extend our cooperation to IT Deusto in
Spain. Joining forces with other European ISV innovators
will allow WISeKey ELA to accelerate the rate of adoption
of these new eID solutions and contribute to make our
enterprises more competitive and our societies more
advanced," commented Carlos Moreira, Founder and
Chairman of WISeKey.

    "This is the right time to address the Spanish
market given the launch of the National eID project.
Suppliers like WISeKey can complement this initiative and
build on the wide acceptance of eID solutions to address
the requirements of any kind of user communities, both in
the public sector and especially also in the enterprise
market," commented Victor Canivell, CEO, WISeKey ELA.

    Abel Linares, CEO, IT Deusto, said: "The
cooperation with WISeKey reinforces IT Deusto's penetration
in the security space with possible extension to
international markets due the high visibility of the
WISeKey brand."

    Hector Sanchez, Director Corporate Security, Microsoft
Spain, said: "We are fully committed to projects and
technologies aimed at strengthening identity and
authentication processes in corporate environments.
WISeKey's technologies enable and facilitate the use of
Microsoft technologies in these processes with the
necessary security and reliability levels."

    Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General,
said:  "UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism
Organization) firmly believes in the need for increased
security and decreased hassle for travellers and have a
SAFE (Security And Facilitation Enhancement) strategy to
this end. A central component is the increased use of
secure internet and identity management capabilities valid
for tourists, tourism providers and tourism authorities
worldwide. This is especially important for developing
countries who need to also be provided with the financing
and technology capacity to join in the global network as
partners. UNWTO based in Madrid is working in the framework
of its PPP with Microsoft with WISeKey, to explore solutions
to this challenge." (More on the UNWTO PPP at
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/GLFAfrica2006Day2PR_1
172006.mspx )

    For more information, please contact:

     Daniel Ybarra
     VP Corporate Communications
     WISeKey
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  WISeKey