America Online and VeriSign will be rolling out a beta test of software from the two companies in June that will secure communication through AOL Instant Messenger by encrypting it, according to an AOL spokesman.
The software, which is aimed at enterprises, will encrypt instant messages as they move between computers, said Marty Gordon, a spokesman with AOL. The companies will offer the software in response to demand from enterprises for more secure methods of instant communication, Gordon said.
Enterprises will not need to make changes to their Instant Messaging software as all changes needed to support the encryption will be made to AOL's servers, he said.
The deal is the second for VeriSign this week, after the company struck a deal to authenticate users with eBay Inc. on Wednesday [See "VeriSign teams with eBay to verify users," May 8].