Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 29, 2006–To strengthen digital security and help enterprises against continuing threats to corporate data, Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a world leader in digital security, and Microsoft today announced that Windows Vista™ will support Gemalto .NET devices right out of the box. Enterprises can now easily and cost effectively replace weak user name and password-based security with Gemalto smart cards and tokens, as well as deploy additional digital security applications such as document signature, physical access control and employee e-purse services. These steps protect digital identities and data from ever-evolving threats.

In a recent report¹, IDC expects the global market of Identity and Access Management to grow from $3.4 billion in revenue in 2006 to reach $5.1 billion in revenue in 2010.

“The ability to partner and provide industry-specific vertical solutions will be the key to success for Identity and Access Management vendors” says IDC in its August 2006 report. “Companies offering lower-cost, open standards-based, easy to integrate Identity and Access Management solutions should be poised to do well in the next couple of years”.

“Customers are asking Microsoft for ways to simplify deployment of strong authentication to enhance network and information security,” said Sanjay Parthasarathy, Corporate Vice-President, Developer and Platform Evangelism, Microsoft Corporation. “We’re pleased to be partnering with Gemalto to deliver .NET-based solutions that make it easier to deploy and manage smartcards for two-factor authentication, and certificate-based services such as digital signatures and file encryption.”

Because support for Gemalto’s .NET technology is built into Windows Vista, organizations can deploy and use these secure personal devices without any additional software or middleware. The microprocessor-based Gemalto .NET device runs a streamlined version of the .NET framework. It provides full cryptographic capabilities, customizable two-factor authentication and support for on-device services seamlessly within the Windows® environment.

“Putting a secure personal device in the hand of every employee and citizen is the ideal way for an organization to securely and conveniently protect digital identities and data,” said Olivier Piou, chief executive officer, Gemalto. “Microsoft’s emphasis on digital security technologies for strong authentication in Windows Vista will improve trust within the enterprise: trust that identities are validated and data is fully and conveniently secured.”

¹IDC, Worldwide Identity and Access Management 2006–2010 Forecast, #202728, August 2006

About Gemalto .NET devices

The Gemalto Cryptoflex .NET technology provides a seamless companion to the Microsoft® .NET environment and service-oriented architectures. By extending the Microsoft .NET programming model to secure personal devices, this new Gemalto innovation empowers application developers through the rich features of managed memory, security, and language integration.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is a leader in digital security with pro forma 2005 annual revenues of $2.2 billion, operations in 120 countries and 11,000 employees including 1,500 R&D engineers. The company’s solutions make personal digital interactions secure and easy in a world where everything of value–from money to identities–is represented as information communicated over networks.

Gemalto thrives on creating and deploying secure platforms, portable and secure forms of software in highly personal objects like smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, readers and tokens. More than a billion people worldwide use the company’s products and services for telecommunications, banking, e-government, identity management, multimedia digital rights management, IT security and other applications. Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of Axalto and Gemplus International S.A. For more information please visit http://www.gemalto.com.

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