BELLCORE SPINS OFF NEW COMPANY TO OFFER DIGITAL NOTARY (TM)(SM) SERVICE

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

The following press release was issued March 22, 1994 by Corporate
Communications.


For release: March 22, 1994


BELLCORE SPINS OFF NEW COMPANY TO
OFFER DIGITAL NOTARY (TM)(SM) SERVICE


LIVINGSTON, N.J. -- A new company which is employing
Bellcore-developed technology is expected to have a far-reaching
impact on electronic record keeping and on controversies ranging
from authenticity of business records to false retouching of
digital photographs.  The new company, Surety Technologies, Inc.,
will offer its Digital Notary service that can affix a tamper-proof
time-stamp seal to any electronic document.  The new time-stamping
service could also make it possible to quickly settle "who invented
it first" patent disputes.


Former Bellcore researchers Stuart Haber and Scott Stornetta,
inventors  of the technology while at Bellcore, will head the new
company under an exclusive licensing agreement from Bellcore, owner
of the patents on the technology.  Under the terms of the
agreement, Bellcore received a small equity position in the
company, and will collect royalties on the use of its patents.


According to Bob Lucky, Vice President of Applied Research at
Bellcore,  "The launch of Surety Technologies marks an important
step in Bellcore's efforts to commercialize and market its research
products."


The new company was announced recently at the computer security
industry's annual RSA Data Security Conference in Redwood Shores,
Calif.  Jim Bidzos, President of RSA Data Security, noted, "This
company  offers an exciting new technology that is complementary to
RSA's public-key technology.  We look forward to great synergy
between RSA and Surety Technologies."


Digital time-stamping technology can be used to provide a
tamper-proof time seal for any electronic document.  It can be
applied to documents of any length, including text and data, as
well as digitized audio, video, and photographs.


"As long as a document, photograph, recording, or videotape can be
put in digital form, it can be time-stamped," said Haber, Chief
Scientist at the new company.  "The process could provide
tremendous peace of mind to those who deal with, or look after,
digital information.  Imagine having the ability to lock in time,
permanently and securely, all business and medical records,
still-frame and video imagery, banking and real estate
transactions, and other digital creations.  You wouldn't even have
to disclose the contents!"


The new technology has been developed around a unique application
of established one-way hash coding technologies.  The patented
method was invented by Haber and Stornetta in 1990 while they were
at Bellcore.  It was named winner of Discover Magazine's "Discover
Award for Technological Innovation in Computer Software" in 1992.


Surety Technologies expects the popularity of its Digital Notary
system to spread to a broad following of scientists, medical
professionals, writers, lawyers, bankers, archivists, and others
who need to certify the date and time their digital documents were
created.  The banking and legal communities have expressed interest
in the system, especially for paperless record management and
intellectual property applications.


"The rapid expansion of the Internet and plans for a National
Information Infrastructure have prompted increased interest in
cryptographic techniques to enhance the integrity and security of
electronic documents," says Stornetta, President of Surety
Technologies.  "Existing digital signature technology is able to
certify questions about `Who and What' when it comes to documents.
Digital Notary technology will add the capability to secure  `When
and What' concerns."


"Our system will provide an inexpensive and trusted means of
certifying the creation of documents in digital form, thereby
smoothing the transition to the paperless office," adds Haber.


At the core of the time-stamping technology is an innovative
application of software that generates a characteristic "digital
fingerprint" for any document.  Digital time-stamping prototypes
that have been running at Bellcore since April 1991 work as
follows:  When a user seals a document, computer software generates
the document's fingerprint and sends it as a "time-stamp request"
to a Digital Notary server, which immediately sends back a
"time-stamp certificate" for the document.  At regular intervals,
a central coordinating service bureau weaves all the world's
time-stamp requests into a mathematical fabric, and broadcasts a
summary number that condenses the entire fabric.


Because of the cryptographic strength of the process that generates
the fingerprints and summary numbers, it is virtually impossible
for anyone to produce back-dated certificates.  Any attempt to pass
a false certificate will be detected by the validation software.
In this way, the Digital Notary system provides a universal,
interoperable, and unimpeachable guarantee, both of time and of
data integrity.


Surety Technologies welcomes developers and corporations who are
interested in testing the system and serving as beta sites for
Digital Notary software.  Call Surety Technologies, Inc. at (201)
993-8178; fax number is (201) 993-8748.  Information is also
available on the Internet at info () notary com.


Bellcore provides research and other technical services to the
telecommunications companies of Ameritech, Bell Atlantic,
BellSouth, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell Corp. and U S
WEST, as well as Cincinnati Bell, Inc., The Southern New England
Telephone Company, and other leaders in industry and government.


# # # #


Digital Notary is both a trademark and a service mark of Surety
Technologies Inc.