Captus Networks Announces Entry into Intrusion Prevention Market with Availability of the Captus IPS 4000 Series.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WOODLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2003

First To Prevent a Broad Range of Costly Unwanted Network

Behaviors, Enabling Predictable Network Availability

Captus Networks today announced its entry into the Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) market with the availability of the Captus IPS(TM) 4000 Series for enterprises, ISP's, government agencies and universities. Pilot customers are successfully using Captus' unique business-driven, policy-based security solution to prevent a broad range of costly unwanted network behaviors, including: DoS/DDoS attacks, port scans and exploits from unknown worms, as well as unsanctioned traffic such as file-swapping and peer-to-peer applications (e.g. Kazaa). At the same time Captus optimizes and manages unplanned valid traffic such as flash crowds and customer surges.

With this announcement, Captus is the first to go beyond IPS to ensure predictable network availability, providing customers with a range of uses: intrusion detection and prevention, service level management, resource allocation and DDoS mitigation.

"Today's security and network management is manually intensive. Adding head count to solve the problem is not going to happen," said Eric Ogren, Senior Analyst Security Solutions & Services for the Yankee Group. "What enterprises are looking for is to get control of their network, increasing top-line revenue through increased service levels and decreasing bottom-line human costs. Captus' policy-driven technology gives customers precise continuous control and the confidence to move to an automated approach, yielding increased network availability and a significant step forward in business ROI."

According to the "2002 CSI/FBI Computer Crime and Security Survey" (Computer Security Institute, Spring 2002), three of the top types of attacks or misuse detected, and those representing the most financial losses were: virus, insider abuse of net access, and DoS events. At the same time, other recent studies cite hackers, network availability, reliability, and bandwidth availability as the top four network concerns for IT professionals. Today's intrusion prevention technologies -- including Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), firewalls, routers and anti-virus systems -- provide limited capability to address all of these needs, compromising business objectives. A business-driven security approach is required that balances two goals:

-- Total Cost of Ownership: preserving the investment in existing infrastructure while optimizing network and security performance

-- Ease of Use: moving from manual, reactive rules-based response to automated, pre-emptive policy-based enforcement

"The Captus IPS product is the right approach: the precise policies automatically stop the attack traffic while letting my normal legitimate traffic continue. Other approaches, such as manipulating routers, are too time consuming, labor intensive and temporary at best," said Chris Pereira, VP, Information Systems for Aeronet, an international urgent shipping company that is expanding its online services. "What is the benefit of Captus? Well, now I sleep at night again. I know that my network is under control and I can focus on business objectives rather than crisis management."

"Intrusion prevention is about more than security. It's about ensuring network availability while minimizing operating costs. If you can get your network under control, security is automatic -- it requires minimal human touch and is essentially free," said Stephen Schramke, president and CEO of Captus.

Captus IPS 4000 Series: A Comprehensive Solution for Predictable Network Availability

The Captus IPS 4000 series is an inline policy-based solution for securing and managing mission-critical IP networks. Together with its Element Management System (EMS) -- Captus IPS View -- the Captus IPS 4000 series provides a complete solution for predictable network availability.

Using Captus Networks' patent-pending technology, the Captus IPS 4000 series delivers precise, continuous control over networks by enforcing highly detailed polices on inbound and outbound traffic. This unprecedented level of control is delivered through:

-- Rich policy options: The Captus IPS 4000 series supports a

rich policy language that enables administrators to

characterize the desired performance of the network and to

prescribe specific actions as responses to traffic anomalies.

The Captus IPS 4000 series incorporates Captus Networks

TLIDS(TM) (Traffic Limiting Intrusion Detection System) Policy

Engine -- already acclaimed as the most granular IPS solution

available.

-- Precise, real-time response: Upon detecting an anomaly, the

Captus IPS 4000 series immediately takes action to throttle,

redirect, and/or deny traffic and, if desired, to send alerts.

The system monitors network activity and continuously adjusts

the network parameters to ensure optimal network performance.

-- Seamless, low-touch integration: Functioning as a transparent

Layer 2 bridge, each Captus IPS 4000 series device fits

seamlessly into enterprise or service provider networks and

requires minimal ongoing management.

The Captus IPS View EMS provides a powerful and easy-to-use solution for integrating Captus IPS technology into enterprise and service provider network operations. Featuring a full suite of FCAPS (Faults, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, Security) applications, Captus IPS View software provides centralized element management and graphical reporting for up to 300 Captus IPS 4000 series elements. Its standards-based technology -- including support for SNMP, Java, SSL, Windows(R), and Crystal Reports formats -- is designed to deliver precise, responsive control over Captus IPS 4000 series elements using tools and interfaces that network administrators already know.

Pricing and Availability

The Captus IPS 4000 series and Captus IPS View are available immediately. Captus IPS 4000 solutions start at $12,000. Captus IPS View Software starts at $8,000.

About Captus Networks

Captus Networks Corp. provides comprehensive intrusion prevention security solutions for enterprises, ISP's, government agencies and universities that need to ensure predictable network availability while minimizing operating costs. The company's unique business-driven, policy-based security approach automatically preempts all types of unwanted network behavior. Captus is privately held and headquartered in Woodland, Calif. For more information visit www.captusnetworks.com or call (877) 9-CAPTUS.