CONQWEST Announces Strategic Parntership With MDR Technologies; Together Companies Offer Comprehensive Employee Policy Communication and Reporting Technology.

Business/Technology Editors

HOLLISTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2001

CONQWEST, Inc, an Internet security technology and service provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Canadian-based MDR Technologies, a leader in global network services. Together the companies deliver first-to-market software technology allowing organizations to monitor employee Internet behavior, generate detailed web-based reports on their employee surfing trends, and routinely and automatically communicate acceptable Internet, computer and email usage policies to employees via electronic policy management.

A recent survey conducted by the American Management Association states that 17% of over 2,000 companies polled have fired employees for Internet misuse. Those companies include several large American corporations. Of these 17%, all have fired workers in the last year for "gross misuse" of the Internet. Experts still agree that monitoring employee Internet use and e-mail is acceptable only when companies have made it clear to their employees that a policy is in place and the limits of what is acceptable and what is not are clearly defined. Hence, the introduction of CONQWEST's e-Minder(TM) and MDR's Millennium Internet Reporting System (MIRS).

"This strategic partnership with MDR Technologies further vindicates our comprehensive approach to solving employee Internet management problems through the coupling of technology and education," said Michelle Drolet, CONQWEST chief executive officer. "The very first step to solving these problems is understanding where your employees are spending their time, and then addressing these issues with clearly communicated, automated Internet policy education. The final step is putting the enforcement technology in place to support these corporate policies. I expect that this relationship will be the first of many in our quest to deliver the most comprehensive employee Internet usage communication vehicle to corporations worldwide."

E-Minder allows companies to routinely communicate their Internet, email and computer usage policies to their employees, making sure employees read and accept the company culture and approved policies that support that culture. E-Minder then relies on existing security technologies (URL filtering, monitoring and reporting) to enforce agreed-upon corporate policies.

The Millennium Internet Reporting Systems (MIRS) enables you to track and report on the amount of time that your employees spend on the Internet. MIRS gathers data that allows you to determine who visited what Internet sites, how long they spent on those sites, and when they surfed on an individual, departmental, or even company-wide level. Together these products offer companies a comprehensive solution for employee Internet management with monitoring technology and automated policy communication software.

"Giving employees Internet access presents a double-edged sword to any organization. They will have access to the best research and most up-to-date information online, however, productivity takes a nose dive as employees are sidetracked while checking their stock portfolios, making personal travel arrangements, shopping, downloading pornography or even job searching," said Stan Tyo, chief executive officer of MDR. "The strategic partnership of MDR and CONQWEST enables us to jointly offer a seamless way to understand where employees are spending their time online, and to then communicate which of those behaviors are acceptable and not acceptable. This is a critical need as more and more employees are giving unlimited Internet access every day."

MDR Technologies

MDR Technologies Inc. currently supplies network infrastructure and productivity management software solutions to more than 30 countries worldwide. A number of these solutions are also available as an Application Service delivered via the Internet and provided by the Enterprise Application Services Division (EASD). In addition, MDR is a leading developer of PC-based voice and data network management software and an international supplier to prominent

telecommunications companies. MDR's customer base includes a significant number of Fortune 500 companies located around the world. Headquartered in Toronto, ON, MDR has additional offices in Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas, San Juan and Santiago. www.mdr.com.

CONQWEST, Inc.

CONQWEST, a leader in Internet security technologies, strategies and services, couples best-of-breed security technology with top-notch customization services and support in order to guide and protect businesses in the evaluation and establishment of sound security policies. CONQWEST has strategic relationships with leading security vendors in the firewall, VPN, Anti-virus, URL filtering, policy management, intrusion detection and remote management space. CONQWEST's customer list contains numerous Fortune 1000 companies interested in protecting their corporate assets and information infrastructure. CONQWEST is headquartered in Holliston, MA, with additional offices in New Hampshire, Toronto and Ottawa. www.conqwest.com.