AXENT UNVEILS NEW 'PERSONAL FIREWALL' AT RSA.

Business/Technology Editors

RSA 

Booth # 230

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2000

As businesses strive to move their operations to the Web more quickly, protecting their "always on" and remotely located Internet workforce presents a difficult challenge to security administrators. AXENT Technologies(R) (RSA Booth # 230) today unveiled the latest technology for protecting employees linked to the corporate network--a personal firewall that provides protection to employee's cable and DSL modems at home, as well as laptop computer connections used by traveling workforces. AXENT's new personal firewall provides the latest e-business security technology, and is available for demonstrations all week at the RSA Data Security Conference in San Jose, CA.

"Cable and DSL modems that are always connected to an employee's home computer present a new security vulnerability to organizations, as they provide an entry point for hackers to break through a company's secure firewall and gain access to confidential information. Common network relay attacks from hacker tools like Back Orifice can bypass a firewall for direct access to the network," said Barry Cioe, product manager for AXENT(R). "By installing our personal firewall on laptops and home computers, customers can now securely access the corporate network from remote locations over a virtual private network, locking down these insecure remote connections as well as saving money with reduced online access and management costs."

Cable and DSL modem security is a growing concern as more and more businesses and consumers adopt the technology. In September of 1999, high-tech research group, Dataquest, estimated that cable modems would roll past 1.7 million units shipped for the year, and rise to 5.3 million by 2003. The company also estimated that DSL shipments would top 1 million in 1999 on the way to 9.8 million units in 2003. Research from Cahners In-Stat Group also predicted a dramatic increase in cable modem shipments, up as much as 120 percent in 2000. According to the company, North America drives the cable modem market, accounting for more than 50 percent of unit shipments through 2003.

AXENT's personal firewall is included free as a component of its new PowerVPN(R) solution (announced last week). AXENT will be giving demonstrations of the personal firewall, PowerVPN 6.5 and the Raptor(R) Firewall 6.5 (also announced last week) at its booth at RSA.

If you are interested in speaking to Barry Cioe about the personal firewall, stop by AXENT's booth (#230) at RSA. If you would like further information after the show, please call Mike Schultz or Davida Dinnerman at Schwartz Communications, [phone] or [e-mail], or visit the AXENT Web site at www.axent.com.

AXENT, AXENT Technologies, the AXENT logo and Raptor are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States and certain other countries, of AXENT Technologies, Inc. or its subsidiaries.