DULLES, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/02/11 -- VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, has been selected by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to operate the nation's mission-critical domain name registry for .gov.

Following a competitive RFP and evaluation process, the GSA granted Verisign the authority to provide designated domain name registration services to federal, state and local governments operating sites under the .gov and fed.us domain names. The services include processing requests, help desk assistance and operation of the authoritative .gov Domain Name System (DNS) servers. Verisign also will support the implementation of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) on .gov and fed.us.

From federal organizations like Congress and the Federal Bureau of Investigations to state and county governments and small municipalities, .gov is the registry of choice for the vast majority of government domains. In addition, agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service (fs.fed.us) and U.S. District Court in New Mexico (nmcourt.fed.us) rely on the fed.us registry to reliably serve many more sites and the citizens who visit them.

"Verisign is honored to be granted the responsibility of operating the .gov and fed.us domain name registries," said Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of Verisign. "Our unmatched operational excellence and proven security expertise offers the GSA a trusted and experienced partner, poised to protect its infrastructure against threats now and into the future. In addition to providing GSA the best in industry service to reliably meet its evolving demands, we are prepared to deliver value-added services that the GSA and its customers may require."

In making its selection, the GSA determined Verisign readily addressed all of the items it identified as essential for operating the .gov domain name registry. These included:

• Designing and operating a registry infrastructure capable of scaling to meet the needs of the GSA, while maintaining best-in-class reliability and accessibility
• Operating a network infrastructure that supports both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
• Full support of DNSSEC
• Unmatched security and stability

About Verisign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, Verisign enables companies and consumers all over the world to connect online with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisigninc.com.

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause Verisign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as increasing competition, pricing pressure from competing services offered at prices below our prices and changes in marketing practices including those of third-party registrars; the sluggish economic recovery; challenges to ongoing privatization of Internet administration; the outcome of legal or other challenges resulting from our activities or the activities of registrars or registrants; new or existing governmental laws and regulations; changes in customer behavior; the inability of Verisign to successfully develop and market new services; the uncertainty of whether our new services will achieve market acceptance or result in any revenues; system interruptions; security breaches; attacks on the Internet by hackers, viruses, or intentional acts of vandalism; and the uncertainty of whether Project Apollo will achieve its stated objectives. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in Verisign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Verisign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this announcement.

©2011 VeriSign, Inc. All rights reserved. Verisign, Verisign Trust, and other related trademarks, service marks, and designs are registered or unregistered trademarks of VeriSign, Inc., or its affiliates or subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Source: Verisign, Inc.

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