Comodo Combats New Variations of Online Fraud with New Class of Identity & Trust Assurance Solutions

As fraudsters get more funding and sophistication, SMBs need best practices and best technology to compete

June 6, 2007; 01:01 AM

Jersey City, NJ - Comodo, a global Certification Authority and leading provider of Identity and Trust Assurance Management solutions, today announced that it is committed to protecting online merchants from a new wave of fraudsters who are better funded and are using newer technology and techniques. These emerging classes of fraudsters are especially targeting the smaller or newer merchants because these enterprises seldom have the financial or IT resources to protect themselves against the increasing levels of scammer sophistication. Some recently publicized frauds include the use of Google AdWords where they drive traffic to mimicked sites, thus potentially damaging the reputation of legitimate eMerchants (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18348120/). In another new scam variation, fraudsters are threatening smaller eMerchants with a denial-of-service (DOS) attack if these merchants do not pay heavy "fees". Recently, such a gang was sentenced to 8 years in prison by Russian authorities for this type of activity, (http://www.newbusiness.co.uk/article/17/05/2007/virus_vulnerability.html. Both are examples of a step change in the level of confidence fraudsters have and the resources available to them.

Comodo has responded with its cutting-edge suite of Identity and Trust Assurance (ITA) products and solutions to mitigate online threats. Comodo's ITA for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is a suite designed to address diverse trust threats. The suite includes:

• EV SSL certificates that deliver new level of site identity assurance through a highly visible green indicator delivered through the new security browsers such as Microsoft IE7.
• Built on the research which confirms that site seals increase customer conversion, Comodo TrustLogo provides verifiable proof of the merchant's authenticity and the authenticity of the TrustLogo on the site with a simple mouse-over. No other site seals provide this level of verifiable trust.
• To protect servers from hackers, HackerGuardian, a vulnerability scanning solution, performs more than 14,000 daily tests and offers remedial advice when a threat is detected. Servers that are secure display a HackerGuardian TrustLogo providing visible reassurance of a site's server safety.
• PCI scan compliancy certification to prove adherence to PCI industry standards which assures secure handling of sensitive customer credit card information

"Internet scammers are increasingly well-funded and well-organized to launch sophisticated social engineering attacks, abusing the trust that consumers have in businesses of any size. These risks threaten to strain the Internet's growth as consumers cut back their online transactions and move toward more conservative online behavior," said Melih Abdulhayoglu, President and CEO of Comodo. "Comodo developed its ITA solutions to keep small and medium-sized businesses one step ahead of the criminals."

Comodo offers the ITA suite at retail prices starting from $79 so that businesses of all sizes can deliver a highly trusted online environment that is authenticated and secure. The ITA suite is one of part of Comodo's strategy to transform from a security-oriented model into a strategic conversion process using authentication for increased trusted transactions. For more information on the Comodo's ITA suite or other solutions, please visit www.instantssl.com.

About Comodo

Comodo, through its group of Internet security companies, is a leading Certification Authority and global provider of Identity and Trust Assurance services on the Internet. Comodo secures and authenticates online transactions and communications for over 2,000,000 businesses and consumers.

With a global presence Comodo offers businesses and consumers third-generation solutions for intelligent security and authentication technologies that create trust online. Comodo's technological expertise includes PKI digital certification, Code signing certification, integrated authentication infrastructure services, Web Content authentication, Secure messaging solutions, PCI compliancy scanning, SSL digital certificates including our flagship InstantSSL brand, HackerGuardian, Banking solutions including Two Factor Authentication, and digital e-commerce services.

For additional information on Comodo - Creating Trust Online™ visit http://www.comodo.com

For more information, media representatives should contact: Judy Shapiro, Comodo, (201) 963-9471, Email: [email protected]