CERTICOM JOINS ZIGBEE ALLIANCE GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM

Certicom Helps Energy and Utility Companies More Effectively Address Environmental and Conservation Issues

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – (May 20, 2008) – Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC) today announced it has joined the ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of more than 250 companies dedicated to ensuring reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. As a Participant member, Certicom will take part in ZigBee Alliance working groups and member meetings and have early access to ZigBee Alliance specifications.

With energy costs continuing to rise, utilities are deploying smart metering systems to get the most efficient use out of existing power generation infrastructure. Metering companies are turning to ZigBee to enable low-cost mass market deployment. ZigBee members, including Certicom, developed the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile to meet the requirements of wireless smart metering applications such as demand response, load control and other energy efficiency programs.

Certicom’s newly released Device Authentication Service for ZigBee Smart Energy enables secure, low-cost, low-bandwidth networking, based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). ECC is the strongest, most trusted form of encryption for resource-constrained applications such as ZigBee Smart Energy devices. With this new offering, Certicom can now provide secure wireless data communications and authentication for smart metering devices (see news release: Certicom Device Authentication Zigbee Smart Energy).

“Securely managing a network of smart metering devices is a complex process, and ZigBee meets that challenge and assures utility companies, meter manufacturers and end customers that only trusted devices have access to the utility network,” said Bob Heile, Chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “We proudly welcome Certicom as a valued member of our global ecosystem and we look forward to drawing upon the company’s knowledge and leadership in security as ZigBee continues providing secure networks.”

“As utility companies worldwide continue to embrace the application of smart meters, it is very important to ensure that the information being transferred along the network – as well as the network itself – are both properly secured from unauthorized intrusion or manipulation,” said Jim Alfred, director of product management for Certicom. “We look forward to playing an active role in the ZigBee Alliance by helping metering companies develop and deploy the most secure wireless devices.”

ZigBee: Wireless Control that Simply Works
The ZigBee Alliance is currently more than 260 Alliance Members strong and has a presence in 28 countries spanning six continents. ZigBee is the only standards-based technology designed to address the unique needs of low-cost, low-power, wireless sensor networks for energy management and efficiency, home and commercial building automation, plus embedded network applications in the industrial and consumer markets. Companies who want to have input on developing the ZigBee specification and create ZigBee products can join the Alliance by visiting www.zigbee.org/en/join. The ZigBee Specification is available for free download from the ZigBee website.

About Certicom
Certicom protects the value of content, applications and devices with government-approved security. Adopted by the National Security Agency (NSA) for government communications, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) provides the most security per bit of any known public-key scheme. As the global leader in ECC, Certicom security offerings are currently licensed to more than 300 customers including General Dynamics, Motorola, Oracle, Research In Motion and Unisys. Founded in 1985, Certicom’s corporate offices are in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with worldwide sales and marketing headquarters in Reston, Virginia and offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and China. Visit www.certicom.com.

For further information, please contact:

For Certicom:
John Conrad
Merritt Group Inc.
703-390-1538
conrad@merrittgrp.com

Certicom, Certicom Security Architecture, Certicom Trust Infrastructure, Certicom CodeSign, Certicom KeyInject, Security Builder, Security Builder API, Security Builder BSP, Security Builder Crypto, Security Builder ETS, Security Builder GSE, Security Builder IPSec, Security Builder NSE, Security Builder PKI and Security Builder SSL are trademarks or registered trademarks of Certicom Corp. All other companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Information subject to change.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes information concerning the Company's future financial performance, business strategy, plans, goals and objectives. When used in such documents, the words "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "will", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases often, but not always, identify forward looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: the ability of the Company to successfully implement its strategic initiatives and whether such strategic initiatives will yield the expected benefits; the ability of the Company to develop, promote and protect its proprietary technology security breaches or defects in the Company's products; competitive conditions in the businesses in which the Company participates; changes in consumer spending; the outcome of legal proceedings as they arise; general economic conditions and normal business uncertainty; consolidation in the Company's industry and by its customers; customer preferences towards product offerings; the risk that customers may cancel their contracts with the Company; reliance on a limited number of customers; demand for ECC-based technology; performance of the Company's management team and the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled employees; operating the Company's business profitably; fluctuations in revenue and foreign currency exchange rates; interest rate fluctuations and other changes in borrowing costs; the ability to develop and maintain strategic relationships; and other factors identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated July 26, 2007 and filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.