AXENT Technologies announces OmniGuard/ Enterprise Resource Manager for Windows NT, Windows 95 and Netscape.

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 1997--

Centralized user administration, resource management

and one-time authentication now supports industry's

widest range of platforms

AXENT(TM) Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ: AXNT), a leading provider of security solutions for enterprise computing environments, today announced the availability of OmniGuard(R)/Enterprise Resource Manager (ERM) version 2.1, formerly known as OmniGuard/Enterprise Sign On (ESO). ERM provides enterprise-wide user and resource administration across heterogeneous computing platforms, now including Windows NT(R), Windows 95 and Netscape platforms, greatly simplifying administrative tasks for systems security managers. In addition, ERM provides one-time authentication which allows secure access to a wide range of computing platforms and applications without the need to re-authenticate or remember multiple passwords.

"Today's enterprise computing environment presents administrators and users with several challenges," comments Pete Privateer, AXENT's senior vice president of operations. "When a new user joins the company, that person often needs access to a large number of computing platforms and applications. Creating user accounts on all of these systems is a huge problem for administrators. Worse yet, when that user leaves the company, no one even knows which systems he or she had access to, making removal of those accounts difficult and time consuming. At the same time, the eclectic mix of computer systems and applications prevalent in today's typical distributed computing environments requires the user to remember multiple log-in methods and passwords. Log-ons to many environments are not secure and passwords can be easily compromised. ERM was designed to solve all of these problems by providing a central point of administration and authentication."

Simplifying User Administration and Authentication

ERM is designed to utilize distributed directory services which provide a logically centralized database of users, groups of users, and computing resources such as clients, servers, files systems, printers, and applications. Administrators can add, modify and delete users, groups of users and computing resources from a Windows PC without having to be experts on each of the platforms they are administering. When an administrator updates the Enterprise Directory, ERM's manager/agent architecture notifies ERM agents running on each of the native platforms, which in turn update the underlying security services.

"Because ERM automates user and resource administration, new users can be given access to all the systems they need through a single drag-and-drop action. This greatly simplifies the process and dramatically improves the administrator's productivity. In addition, because ERM masks the complexity of the underlying environment, administration can be delegated to non-technical staff rather than the perennially overworked systems administrator," said AXENT's Privateer.

To provide centralized authentication to multiple resources, users are first authenticated against the Enterprise Security Server (ESS) when they access the network. If the ESS determines that the person is a valid user, ERM looks up the requested resource in the directory, determines the location of the resource, whether or not the person is authorized to access the resource, and obtains the necessary credentials the user will need in order to start the resource. ERM then uses this information to activate the system or application without any additional user actions required.

Privateer adds, "ERM acts as a middle man between the user and the computing systems they need to do their job. Because ERM tracks all the necessary credentials in the Enterprise Directory, the user needs only to remember a single password and log in only once. The user does not have to remember how to locate and start authorized resources -- ERM takes care of that for the user. And, since ERM is brokering access to these resources, passwords are never transmitted insecurely across the network and overall security is greatly enhanced."

"We found that Enterprise Resource Manager enables our bank to meet a wide variety of our security audit requirements. ERM provides FHLB with additional security to run our banking applications and increase the productivity of our administrators," said Nancy Parker, director, information security, Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.

"IS decision makers tell us that their most pressing concerns about security include a lack of qualified staff and overly complex component solutions," said Jim Hurley, Director of Operating Environments at Aberdeen Group in Boston. "AXENT's focus on using directory services is going to resolve both of these problems for decision makers."

ERM Modules for Scaleable Deployment

ERM has also been designed in a modular fashion, which facilitates the rollout of the product in a large enterprise. ERM is made up of a series of resource management modules that enable user and resource administration for UNIX, Windows NT, PCs, Internet servers, etc. Each share a common architecture, yet provides platform-specific components that can be purchased and deployed according to the needs of the corporation. Currently available resource management modules include:

-- UNIX Resource Manager (URM). URM, formerly known as Enterprise Access Control for UNIX, centralizes administration across heterogeneous UNIX platforms and provides enhanced UNIX authentication. URM is based on AXENT's four years of experience in UNIX security administration and has been deployed by major banking and financial institutions.

-- NetWare Resource Manager (NRM). NRM supports all the NetWare environments including both bindery and NDS implementations. NRM automates the process of granting user IDs across the multiple bindery NetWare servers or in mixed bindery/NDS environments as well as enhanced NetWare authentication.

-- MVS Resource Manager (MRM). MRM facilitates the administration of users across a mix of RACF or ACF 2 environments and ensures secure authentication to MVS mainframes. Extension to Top Secret is planned.

-- NT Resource Manager (NTRM). NTRM is new with release 2.1 of ERM. NTRM provides fine grained control over user and resource administration across multiple NT domains or NT clients.

-- Windows 95 Resource Manager (WRM). WRM is also new with release 2.1. It enables organizations to centrally manage Windows 95 desktop and notebook security. When used in combination with AXENT's Enterprise Access Control for Windows 95, WRM enables desktop and notebook computers to meet "C2" functional guidelines.

-- Also new with ERM version 2.1 is a development tool kit that enables organizations to add administrative support for applications developed in-house or by a third party.

Organizations can begin by deploying one or more of these resource management solutions and later integrate the other modules into an already established foundation. Each resource's management module shares a common database designed around the Enterprise Directory. ERM's Enterprise Directory is not itself a directory service. Rather, it is a layered application that utilizes proven commercially deployed directory services. This enables ERM to scale-up to handle large enterprises with tens of thousands of users and potentially millions of computing resources.

Pricing and Availability

ERM version 2.1 is available immediately. Previous versions of ERM supported administration and authentication for SunOS, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Digital UNIX, SGI's IRIX, NetWare 3.x, NetWare 4.x (NDS), Banyan Vines, and RACF. Release 2.1 expands ERM capabilities to Windows NT Client, Windows NT Server, Windows 95, MVS ACF/2, and Netscape's SuiteSpot Web Servers.

Pricing is based on the number of clients, application servers, and Enterprise Security Servers deployed. While individual configurations will vary, typical list prices will be less than $100 per seat for a comprehensive administration and authentication solution.

About AXENT Technologies

AXENT Technologies, Inc., is a leading provider of enterprise- wide information security solutions for distributed computing environments. The OmniGuard suite of products enables organizations to centrally manage information security. In addition, OmniGuard provides enhanced data confidentiality, access control, user administration and intrusion detection across the Internet and intranets, for UNIX, Windows 3.x, Windows NT, Windows 95, NetWare and mid-range systems. Headquartered in Rockville, MD, AXENT's broad line of security offerings is used by Fortune 1000 companies and governments worldwide to effectively secure and protect information systems in heterogeneous computing environments. Recently, AXENT completed the acquisition of AssureNet Pathways, Inc., a privately held supplier of token-based authentication products. The acquisition adds proven remote access authentication products, Internet/intranet authentication products, and significantly expands AXENT's indirect distribution channels. Contact AXENT via Email at [e-mail], or visit AXENT's World Wide Web site at http://www.axent.com . -0-

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CONTACT: AXENT Technologies, Inc. Schwartz Communications

Jennifer Whipp Mike Farber, Owen Davis

301/670-3653 617/684-0770

[e-mail] [e-mail]