<PAGE> 1
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of April 17, 2000
CERTICOM CORP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
5520 Explorer Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5L1 Canada
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F Form 40-F X
----- -----
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.)
Yes X No
----- -----
(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): .)
-----------
<PAGE> 2
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
CERTICOM CORP.
------------------------------------------
(Registrant)
Date: 4/17/2000 By: Richard D. Brounstein
---------------------------------------
(Signature)
[Insert name and title of signing officer]
2
<PAGE> 1
[LOGO]
CERTICOM(TM)
NEWS RELEASE
================================================================================
ROBERT HARLEY AND TEAM WIN $10,000 PRIZE IN CERTICOM'S ECC CHALLENGE
MAJOR CHALLENGE EFFORT IN PUBLIC-KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY CONFIRMS ECC SECURITY
HAYWARD, CALIF., APRIL 17, 2000 - Dr. Scott Vanstone, Chief Cryptographer for
Certicom Corp., is pleased to announce that a team of researchers led by Robert
Harley, Damien Doligez, Daniel de Rauglaudre and Xavier Leroy of INRIA (France)
have solved Certicom's ECC2K-108 Challenge. For this achievement, Certicom is
pleased to award them a cash prize of $10,000.
The Certicom ECC Challenge was developed in November 1997 to increase the
industry's understanding and appreciation for the difficulty of the elliptic
curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP), which forms the basis for the security
of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC).
"We believe this response to our ECC Challenge demonstrates the ongoing
international commitment to the development and deployment of elliptic curve
cryptography," said Dr. Vanstone. "The effort of Harley's group is significant
because it provides practical confirmation of the theoretical estimates of the
security of the ECC cryptosystem."
The solution to the ECC2K-108 challenge is believed to be the largest effort
ever expended in a public-key cryptography challenge. It took four months and
involved approximately 9,500 machines and 1300 volunteers from 40 countries. The
amount of work required to solve the ECC2K-108 challenge was about 50 times that
required to solve the 512-bit RSA cryptosystem.
The method Harley's team used for solving ECC2K-108 is well known, having been
introduced independently by Certicom researchers and Harley's team in 1998.
Although the effort therefore provides no fundamental advances, it is
nonetheless an impressive computational achievement that demonstrates the
strength of distributed computer networks.
"Harley's team's accomplishment is an impressive example of the power of modern
distributed computing," said Neal Koblitz, Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Washington and co-inventor of ECC. "Their work shows the accuracy
of Certicom's estimates of the amount of time required to solve the Certicom
Challenges, and in this way reinforces our confidence in the security of ECC."
Harley's team's effort also supports Certicom's recommendation that keys of at
least 160 bit ECC encryption should be deployed in practice. Solving a 163-bit
ECC challenge is
-more-
CERTICOM CORP. 25801 Industrial Blvd., Hayward, CA 94545, USA
t: 510.780.5400 f: 510.780.5401 www.certicom.com
<PAGE> 2
"CERTICOM ANNOUNCES ECC2K-108 CHALLENGE WINNER," PAGE 2 OF 2
================================================================================
estimated to require about 100 million times the work expended to solve the
108-bit challenge.
More information on the Certicom ECC Challenge can be found at the following URL
http://www.certicom.com/research/ecc_challenge.html. More information on the
ECC2K-108 solution and Harley's team can be found at
http://www.certicom.com/research/ecc2k108.html and at
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~harley/ecdl7.
ABOUT CERTICOM
Certicom is an encryption technology company specializing in security solutions
for mobile computing and wireless data markets, including m-commerce. Major
computing and communications companies such as Palm, Inc., BellSouth Wireless
Data, Motorola, Pitney Bowes, and QUALCOMM incorporate Certicom's technology
into electronic commerce software, wireless messaging applications, and smart
cards. Certicom is a leading source for a complete range of OEM security
products and services, including cryptographic toolkits, custom implementations,
and security integration services and consulting. Certicom's worldwide sales and
marketing operations are based in Hayward, California, with cryptographic
research and product development in Toronto, Canada. For more information, visit
Certicom's Web site at http://www.certicom.com.
# # #
Certicom is a registered trademark 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 press 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 (mobile e-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 principle 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 third 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 Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities
regulatory authorities including Certicom's Registration Statement on Form F-10.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Lorraine Kauffman
Public Relations
Certicom Corp.
(510) 780-5417
[email protected]
