AXENT Announces Industry's First Comprehensive Incident Response & Recovery Service Essential for Growing E-Businesses.

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 1999--

SNCi Delivers Damage Control Program to Help Companies

Avoid and Quickly Recover from Costly Security Breaches

AXENT Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXNT), one of the world's leading information security solution providers, and its independent subsidiary, Secure Network Consulting, Inc. (SNCi) today introduced its "Incident Response and Recovery Service." The comprehensive service teaches organizations how to rely on internal resources to detect, contain, respond to, and recover from potential compromises to critical information systems and networks, minimizing the impact of information security breaches on Internet-enabled businesses.

According to Information Security, 43 percent of organizations that experience a security breach said it cost them more than $5 million. Without having a pre-planned, orchestrated response, even a delay of just a few seconds in Web access or an e-commerce application can drive customers away without a purchase and create a tremendous negative impact on customer trust and the company's public image.

SNCi's Incident Response and Recovery Service offers a unique combination of policy development, emergency planning and disaster recovery components. "Many companies that rely on IT systems don't have the time, resources or expertise to prepare for or respond to attacks, and truly don't know what to do once their critical systems are compromised," said Charlie Johnson, vice president and general manager of SNCi. "These companies need an internal process to help manage potential devastating or embarrassing situations caused by information security breaches -- it would be irresponsible not to have a prepared emergency program. Our Incident Response and Recovery Service puts a damage control plan and crisis team in place before a potential crisis happens, to help companies get back on their feet as quickly as possible, while reducing the impact of a breach as well as valuable time and dollars lost."

The Incident Response and Recovery Service is part of AXENT's Lifecycle Security(tm) methodology, which provides services and solutions that address the cyclical, dynamic nature of both e-security and Internet-enabled businesses. The Incident Response and Recovery Service includes:

-- Identifying the framework of business-critical employees, partners, customers, information and processes most at risk;

-- Designing procedures and processes that shorten response and recovery time of security breaches;

-- Implementing the best practices and solutions that address actual e-security risks;

-- Training critical staff and executives to deal with breaches, using real-life examples from similar businesses, and conducting "fire drills" to help prepare for different crises; and

-- Executing the program with continued assessment, protection, support and management as part of a comprehensive Lifecycle Security solution.

"Any organization implementing an intrusion detection system will need this service," said Bill Franklin, vice president of services for AXENT. "What do you do after the fire alarms go off--that's when a lot of organizations start asking questions. With this service we're enabling these organizations to respond quickly to incidents using a structured program that allows them to contain and minimize potential damage."

"The AXENT and SNCi Incident Response and Recovery program offers security-conscious organizations a multi-phase strategy for identifying and reacting effectively to potential and existing breaches from within and outside the network perimeter," said Richard Dean, a senior research analyst at IDC. "By using independent third-party experts to evaluate security preparedness, organizations can remain focused on core business issues instead of potential network vulnerabilities."

Pricing and Availability

The Incident Recovery and Response program is now available in the U.S. through AXENT(tm) and SNCi. Pricing starts at U.S. $150,000 per engagement which includes operating framework development, procedure development, knowledge transfer, and ongoing Lifecycle services.

About Secure Network Consulting, Inc. (SNCi)

Secure Network Consulting, Inc. (SNCi) provides comprehensive, Lifecycle Security solutions to protect and enable critical, confidential information assets and e-business initiatives. SNCi has the ability to design, implement, maintain, and evolve security architectures, offering practical and efficient services that enable customers to successfully address and manage their security risks. SNCi is a wholly owned subsidiary of AXENT Technologies, Inc. Contact SNCi at 1-888-700-SNCi (7624).

About AXENT(tm)

AXENT Technologies, Inc., a global leader in information security, provides e-security solutions that maximize our customers' business advantage. AXENT delivers integrated products and expert services to assess, protect, enable and manage business processes and information assets. Through its unique Lifecycle Security(tm) methodology combined with Smart Security Architecture, AXENT delivers the "right" level of security for customers. Award-winning solutions offer assessment and policy compliance, firewall, intrusion detection, authentication, VPN, Web-access, single sign-on and user administration for the entire enterprise.

Headquartered in Rockville, MD, AXENT's customer-proven information security solutions are used by 45 of the Fortune 50 and governments worldwide. Contact AXENT via e-mail at [e-mail], or visit AXENT's World Wide Web site at www.axent.com.

AXENT, AXENT Technologies, Lifecycle Security, the AXENT logo and the SNCi logo are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States and certain other countries, of AXENT Technologies, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.