VeriSign (VRSN)

VeriSign Names Mark McLaughlin as President and Chief Operating Officer

Mountain View, Calif. – January 14, 2009 – VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) today announced that the company has named Mark McLaughlin as president and chief operating officer. Company founder Jim Bidzos continues to serve as executive chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, on an interim basis.

McLaughlin, 43, previously held a number of key positions at VeriSign from 2000 to 2007, ultimately serving as executive vice president of products and marketing. In that capacity, McLaughlin played a key architectural role in developing VeriSign’s strategy to focus the company on its core Internet infrastructure services, while divesting several non-core businesses. McLaughlin’s earlier contributions also include having run the company’s Naming Services business, where he led the successful negotiation of the current agreements for the management of the .com and .net registries, as well as a number of key strategic alliances with major partners such as eBay and Microsoft.

Prior to joining VeriSign, McLaughlin served in executive management capacities at both Signio, acquired by VeriSign in 2000, and Gemplus. McLaughlin also served as general counsel of Caere Corporation and practiced law as an attorney with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP. McLaughlin is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

As president and chief operating officer, McLaughlin will report to Bidzos and have full responsibility for the company’s operations, including the Naming and Authentication (SSL and IAS) business units, as well as the Technology and Strategy organizations. Staff functions of Finance, Legal and Corporate Development, as well as VeriSign Japan, will continue to report to Bidzos.

Bidzos said that the VeriSign board selected McLaughlin because he is uniquely qualified to help the company move forward in executing its strategy given McLaughlin’s role in developing that strategy and his deep understanding of the Internet and security markets.

“I’m very excited to welcome Mark back to VeriSign,” said Bidzos. “He’s one of the most capable, high-energy leaders I’ve had the pleasure to work with, and we work extremely well together. Mark’s knowledge of the company and our industry were very important factors in today’s announcement. For the time being I will continue as interim CEO.”

“VeriSign has tremendous strengths and is executing on the right strategy at the right time,” said McLaughlin. “It’s great to be back and I’m looking forward to seeing the company move to the next level.”