VeriSign's identity and authentication business to now come under the Symantec banner.

The deal includes the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Services, the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Services, the VeriSign Trust Services and the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service.   “With the anonymity of the internet and the evolving threat landscape, people and organisations are struggling to maintain confidence in the security of their interactions, information and identities online,” said Enrique Salem, President and CEO, Symantec.

“At the same time, people’s personal and professional lives have converged and they want to use their various digital devices to access information wherever they are without jeopardising their privacy,” he added.

Under the terms of the agreement, Symantec will purchase the specific assets from VeriSign, including the majority stake in VeriSign Japan, for a purchase price of approximately US$1.28 billion in cash.

Through this acquisition, Symantec says it can help businesses incorporate identity security into a comprehensive framework so that IT can confidently and securely adopt new computing models.

Salem continued, “IT is faced with the challenge of giving users the appropriate access, while ensuring that corporate data is not at risk. We believe the solution to this dilemma lies in the ubiquity of identity-based security.  With the combined products and reach from Symantec and VeriSign, we are poised to drive the adoption of identity security as the means to provide simple and secure access to anything from anywhere, to prevent identity fraud and to make online experiences more user-friendly and hassle-free.”

Towards the end of April Symantec announced it would acquire PGP Corporation for US$300 million in cash and GuardianEdge for US$70 million in cash.