HITACHI ADDS MOVIAN BY CERTICOM TO ITS ENTERPRISE MOBILE SOLUTION OFFERINGS

Hitachi joins Certicom Partner Network as first global Advantage Partner

Mississauga, Ontario – (April, 8 2003) - Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC), a leading provider of wireless security solutions, today announced that Hitachi has signed a global distribution agreement to add movian™ wireless security products to the company’s complete enterprise mobile solution offering. This partnership will enable mobile workers to quickly deploy secure wireless access to enterprise applications, anytime, anywhere.

Hitachi will join the top tier of the Certicom Partner Network as an Advantage Partner. The agreement will see Hitachi’s Ubiquitous Group distribute movian products with Hitachi’s handheld devices globally, forming a complete solution to enable the mobile enterprise. As an Advantage Partner, Hitachi will now be able to meet their customers’ demand for secure wireless communications and provide Certicom with a strong partner to leverage into the Asian market.

“Certicom’s award-winning movian products round out our mobile offering by providing the most extensive wireless security solution that meets the enterprise’s strict requirements,” said Tatsuro Arai, Solution Division, Ubiquitous Platform Systems, Hitachi, Ltd. “Joining the Certicom Partner Network has given us access to the world-class support and technical knowledge we require to meet the security needs of our customers at the highest level.”

Enterprises are looking for ways to extend existing security policies to mobile workers. In conjunction with Hitachi’s expertise in wireless products and services, Certicom’s movian products provide a complete, cost-effective security solution for handheld devices that allows corporations to leverage existing security infrastructure.

“As a leading global provider of wireless solutions, Hitachi saw the requirement for security as part of a complete mobility solution. Through this new partnership, we will help Hitachi provide the most enhanced security solutions to its customers,” said Ian McKinnon, president and CEO of Certicom. “Certicom is committed to working with our world-class partners and strengthening our Partner Network with expanded product offerings and valuable resources. This agreement reinforces Certicom’s leadership position and further entrenches movian as the de facto standard for wireless security globally.”

movian security applications bring together the convenience of wireless communications with the security demanded by organizations looking to extend critical enterprise applications such as e-mail and web browsing to mobile professionals. movianVPN™ provides secure access to the corporate network via wireless devices while movianCrypt™ offers secure data storage on the device. movianMail™, Certicom’s latest offering, provides true end-to-end security for e-mail messages and their attachments over any wireless network.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2001 (ended March 31, 2002) consolidated sales totaled 7,994 billion yen ($60.1 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s Web site at http://global.hitachi.com.

About Certicom Partner Network 
The Certicom Partner Network enables security-focused companies and large carriers with security divisions to round out their product portfolios with award-winning handheld security solutions. The Certicom Partner Network has two levels of partnership: Advantage and Alliance. Members of the Certicom Partner Network are fully qualified to sell and support Certicom products and have access to an extensive array of sales, marketing and technical support benefits. Advantage partners make a stronger revenue commitment to Certicom and enjoy enhanced partner benefits.

About Certicom
Certicom is a leading provider of wireless security solutions, enabling developers, governments and enterprises to add strong security to their devices, networks and applications. Designed for constrained devices, Certicom’s patented technologies are unsurpassed in delivering the strongest cryptography with the smallest impact on performance and usability. Certicom products are currently licensed to more than 300 customers including Texas Instruments, Palm, Research In Motion, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Motorola. Founded in 1985, Certicom is headquartered in Mississauga, ON, Canada, with offices in Ottawa, ON; Herndon, VA; San Mateo, CA; and London, England. Visit www.certicom.com.


Certicom, Security Builder, SSL Plus, Trustpoint, movian, movianVPN, movianCrypt, and movianMail are trademarks or registered trademarks of Certicom Corp. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, those relating to the acceptance of mobile and wireless devices and the continued growth of e-commerce and m-commerce, the increase of the demand for mutual authentication in m-commerce transactions, the acceptance of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) technology as an industry standard, the market acceptance of our principal products and sales of our customer’s products, the impact of competitive products and technologies, the possibility of our products infringing patents and other intellectual property of fourth parties, and costs of product development. Certicom will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect Certicom’s financial results is included in the documents Certicom files from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. 

For further information, please contact: 

Andre Fuochi Brendan Ziolo
Maverick Public Relations Certicom Corp.
(416) 640-5525 ext.233 (613) 254-9267
andref@maverickpr.com bziolo@certicom.com