Cisco Enhances Industry-Leading VPN Solutions; New Capabilities Offer Embedded Personal Firewall and Increased Performance for Today's VPN Deployments.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2001

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), the leader in networking for the Internet, today announced the availability of new versions of the Cisco VPN Client software, the Cisco VPN 3002 Hardware Client, and new embedded hardware-based VPN acceleration in the Cisco PIX 525 and 535 Firewall family. These enhancements offer customers added end-point security support in remote access VPN deployments, and an increase in Cisco's high-end firewall VPN performance.

This announcement extends Cisco's technical and market innovation in the VPN and security market and further enhances SAFE, Cisco's security blueprint for Cisco AVVID -- the Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data. Gartner/Dataquest's recently published marketshare report, "Firewall Equipment: Worldwide, First Half 2001," ranked Cisco No. 1 in the firewall equipment market by revenue in 2000 confirming Cisco's leadership position.

New Enhancements to Cisco's Award-Winning Remote Access VPN Solutions

The new Cisco VPN Client version 3.5 software and version 3.5 of the Cisco VPN 3002 Hardware Client continue to address customer remote access VPN requirements with a variety of new capabilities. The Cisco VPN Client software includes new integrated personal firewall functionality from Zone Labs, a member of the Cisco AVVID Partner Program, giving customers embedded end-point security support in remote access VPN environments.

Users initiating a VPN connection can now be required to have the firewall enabled before a connection is established at the head-end device, providing critical infrastructure protection for networks that support remote access VPNs. New support for smartcards and NT password expiration provide added remote access VPN security functionality, and new MAC OS X and Solaris client support in the unified client architecture expand customer options for VPN connectivity.

Version 3.5 of the Cisco 3002 Hardware Client now allows for individual user authentication, giving customers the option to require users behind a 3002 to authenticate themselves, complementing the new end-point security capabilities available in the client software. The addition of new IPSec/TCP support extends the 3002 capabilities in Extranet environments, enabling users to connect to their "home" corporate network through a foreign firewall or NAT device.

"As a leading outsourced IT services provider for companies with widely distributed workforces, secure remote connectivity is critical to our customer support capabilities," said Darius Mikenas, manager of Network Engineering and Operations at Centerbeam, Inc. "The enhancements to the Cisco VPN Client software and Cisco VPN 3002 Hardware Client provide extensive, integrated end-point security capabilities critical to remote access VPN deployments."

New Enhancements to Cisco's Market-Leading PIX Firewall Family

Cisco also announced today extensions to the VPN capabilities in select models of its high-performance PIX 525 and 535 Firewalls. With the addition of integrated hardware-based VPN acceleration, the PIX 525 and 535 firewalls now offer high-performance VPN functionality integrated with industry-leading perimeter security for today's business-critical VPN and security deployments.

The growing demand for VPN connectivity reveals significant business benefits. A recently Cisco-sponsored Gartner Consulting VPN Research study found the average return on a company's VPN investment to be approximately 54%, with one of the key implementation drivers and benefits realized being secure remote access. The new enhancements to Cisco's VPN solutions, and the SAFE blueprint support these findings enabling businesses to securely and successfully take advantage of e-Business and compete in the Internet economy. More information is available at http://www.cisco.com/go/safe.

Pricing and Availability

The Cisco VPN Client version 3.5 software is available today for all compliant Cisco Remote Access VPN devices, including the Cisco VPN 3000 Concentrator and Cisco VPN 3002 Hardware Client for no additional charge. The Cisco PIX 525 is available today with embedded VPN acceleration for $22,000 USD and Cisco PIX 535 with embedded VPN acceleration is available today for $59,000 USD.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.

Note to Editors: Cisco, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.