Captus Networks Named a Finalist in UC Davis CONNECT's First Annual Capital Region Most Innovative New Product Awards Competition.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WOODLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2001

Captus Chosen for Its Advanced Technology Designed to Protect

Against Denial of Service Attacks Launched by Malicious Hackers

Against Internet Sites

Captus Networks today announced it has been selected as a finalist in the 2001 Capital Region Most Innovative New Product Awards competition sponsored by UC Davis CONNECT(R), the university's program in technology and entrepreneurship. Winners of the first annual competition will be named at an awards ceremony and banquet on March 2 at the Sacramento Hyatt Regency Hotel.

"Captus Networks' new products are a reflection of the technical excellence that companies in this region are achieving," said Wayne N. Sawka, Ph.D., director of UC Davis CONNECT. "Captus and the other contenders for the Capital Region Most Innovative New Product Awards are clear leaders in creating products that break new ground in development and manufacturing processes, and that provide critically important industrial and societal benefits."

Captus is one of three finalists in the competition's New Media/Hardware category. The company was chosen from among several dozen high-technology firms in North Central California on the merits of its recently introduced CaptIO family of integrated network security devices. The CaptIO devices give Internet sites the most powerful protection available against denial of service (DoS) attacks launched by malicious hackers.

The DoS attacks that Captus products defend against are becoming increasingly common -- and devastating. They attempt to overwhelm Web sites with a flood of bogus requests for information, and they can shut down a site by making it impossible to respond to legitimate users. DoS attacks have been much in the news -- in the last year, they have disrupted several of the largest sites on the Internet, including Yahoo!, eBay, E*Trade, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and CNN.com.

"We are proud that our CaptIO family of products for countering denial of service attacks has won recognition from the technical experts and industry representatives in the prestigious UC Davis CONNECT program," said Richard G. Helgeson, CEO and president of Captus Networks. "We look forward to the opportunity to showcase our technology at the upcoming awards ceremony, where many of the attendees will be interested in learning about our solution for blocking massive DoS attacks that cost Internet businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue."

Through the Capital Region Most Innovative Product Awards, UC Davis CONNECT recognizes industry accomplishments in transitioning research into today's products and markets. Six awards will be presented in the categories of Medical Technology, Engineering, Environment & Transportation, Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Hardware & New Media. All products considered for this year's awards were first sold or introduced in 1999 or 2000, and were substantially designed or manufactured in the Capital Region, including the I-80 corridor.

UC Davis CONNECT

The CONNECT program originated at UC San Diego in 1985 and became an "incubator without walls," nurturing entrepreneurship in the high technology and life sciences industries there. Building on the success of UCSD CONNECT, since October 1999, UC Davis CONNECT has been leveraging the resources of this region to aid in the creation and success of new local high technology businesses. To date, UC Davis CONNECT companies have raised over $22 million in equity investments. CONNECT links entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success: money, markets, management, partners, support services, and access to government officials. Its programs also help business service providers, attorneys, accountants, bankers, investors, and marketing professionals by providing them with the knowledge about emerging technologies and access to new business opportunities.

Captus Networks

Founded in 1999, Captus Networks Corp. is an innovative, privately held company that designs, manufactures and markets integrated security hardware devices. Captus Networks closed its first round of financing in May 2000, raising $3.5 million in venture capital from GMS Capital Partners, LP. Captus Networks currently has more than 10 pending patents and trademarks. Captus Networks' vision is to be the preeminent supplier of high performance, integrated network security devices and services for the e-business marketplace. The company's executive offices are located in Woodland, Calif., near Sacramento. Captus Networks can be contacted on the World Wide Web at www.captusnetworks.com or by calling (877) 9-CAPTUS.

CaptIO is a trademark of Captus Networks. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the company with which they are associated.