CyberTrust was a security services company formed in Virginia in November 2004 from the merger of TruSecure and Betrusted. Betrusted previously acquired GTE Cybertrust.[1][citation needed] Cybertrust acquired a large stake in Ubizen, a European security services firm based in Belgium, to become one of the largest information security firms in the world. It was acquired by Verizon Business in 2007.[2] In 2015, the CyberTrust root certificates were acquired by DigiCert, Inc., a leading global Certificate Authority (CA) and provider of trusted identity and authentication services.[citation needed]

History

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CyberTrust was founded as a subsidiary of GTE Corporation's Government Systems Information Security Directorate. It focused on security services for electronic commerce. These included authentication, privacy, integrity and non-repudiation using Public Key Encryption technology. In 2000, GTE sold CyberTrust to Ireland-based security company Baltimore Technologies for $150 million.[3] In 2003, Baltimore Technologies divested its operating companies, including all digital certificate operations to BeTrusted Holdings, Inc.[4] A year later in September 2004, BeTrusted announced its intention to merge with former competitor TruSecure Corporation and in November the resulting company was incorporated in Virginia as CyberTrust.[5] Verizon Business then acquired Cybertrust in 2007,[6] reuniting it with its former parent (Verizon was created by the merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic). Financial terms were not disclosed.[citation needed] In 2015, the CyberTrust root certificates were acquired by DigiCert, Inc., a leading global Certificate Authority (CA) and provider of trusted identity and authentication services. The financial terms were not disclosed.[7]

Cybertrust used its majority shareholding to dilute the remaining Ubizen shares, forcing it to acquire the remaining shares and delist Ubizen in 2005.[8]

Betrusted was originally created by PWC and sold to One Equity Partners, a division of Bank 1. One Equity Partners also purchased 90 East and SecureNet (who bought the PKI component of Baltimore and the gateway operations of iSecure).[9]

Present

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The acquisition of the CyberTrust root certificates makes DigiCert the second-largest Certificate Authority (CA) for high-assurance SSL Certificates. As part of the deal, DigiCert will assume management of the CyberTrust/Verizon trusted roots and intermediate certificates. Verizon will continue to offer SSL Certificates as a reseller of DigiCert.[10]

Pursuant to DigiCert's acquiring Verizon Enterprise SSL business, DigiCert announces its partnership with Cybertrust Japan to expand its market presence in Asia.[11] Under this new partnership, DigiCert and Cybertrust Japan also announce Cyber Secure Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cybertrust Japan, which will market DigiCert's certificate technology to Southeast Asia from a regional headquarters in Singapore.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Agreement between the Company and beTRUSTed (Omniroot)". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  2. ^ Duffy, Jim (2007-05-14). "Verizon Business acquires Cybertrust". Network World. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  3. ^ "Baltimore Technologies Buys CyberTrust for $150 Million - InternetNews". www.internetnews.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  4. ^ "Agreement between the Company and beTRUSTed (Omniroot)". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  5. ^ Kawamoto, Dawn. "TruSecure, Betrusted to merge and rename". CNET. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  6. ^ "Verizon Business to Acquire Information Security Services Leader Cybertrust: Combination Creates Global Security Powerhouse". Verizon Business (press release). 2007-05-14.
  7. ^ "DigiCert Grows SSL/TLS Business Via Verizon Enterprise SSL Deal". www.eweek.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Back to the roots. Kernel leaves the Warsaw Stock Exchange. How should shareholders respond?". Mind.ua. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  9. ^ Roberts, Paul F. (2004-09-20). "TruSecure merges with Betrusted". Network World. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  10. ^ "DigiCert Acquires Verizon Enterprise SSL Business". www.digicert.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  11. ^ "DigiCert Partners with Cybertrust Japan". www.digicert.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
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