VeriSign Targets Small Biz with E-Commerce Security Package

Web infrastructure services provider VeriSign said Monday it is offering a new Shared Hosting Security Service aimed at helping small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) receive the kind of e-commerce security previously reserved for much larger companies.

The new offering will provide customers of SMB sites with a VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN) seal that authenticates its Web address and the customer's Internet service provider (ISP) encryption. The security services will be marketed to the SMBs through ISPs and Web hosting companies such as EarthLink, Ensim Corporation and ezWare Systems.

"It's kind of gluing together the pieces they already had and tying in the seal -- but the key issue is: Are they going to invest in the advertising to make this seal any more significant than the other seals out there?" Gartner analyst John Pescatore told the E-Commerce Times. "Until you make the seal mean something to a consumer, what's the point?"

Numbers Game

Dun & Bradstreet will be providing the business authentication service using its database of over 64 million registered companies. Businesses receive a DUNS authentication number upon being registered with Dun & Bradstreet.

When a customer clicks on a VeriSign SMB site, VeriSign verifies that the SMB name and Web address have been authenticated by Dun & Bradstreet and that they have the right to use the ISPs or Web Host's SSL encryption, the company said.

Tell Me More

However, Pescatore said that while the D&B aspect of the service is the only "unique" service being offered by VeriSign in this package, it also does not tell consumers that much.

"Really all [the DUNS number] is saying is that this is a legitimate company," Pescatore said. "Guys setting up sites to hack credit cards don't have these numbers. It doesn't say whether credit (of the business) is good, or whether [the business] is trying to sell crack to teenagers. Whether it's a good or bad company, you still have no idea."

Virtual Security

Pescatore said that what VeriSign's new service does do for small and mid-size businesses is reduce the insurance costs for these companies by offering up to US$5,000 of NetSure warranty protection for their sites.

According to VeriSign, the new service also helps SMBs protect consumers from the security breaches that can result when sites are part of a virtual server or "shared hosting" architecture. According to Pescatore, the risk of shared hosting is that if one of the sites on a server is compromised, it could impact all sites on the server.

"[The new service] will certify that the SMB's virtual server has been configured securely, that customer data is stored in hardware rather than in software memory," Pescatore said.