City of Boston and Elron Software Launch Partnership to Protect Students from Online Pornography.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 1999--At a press event held last week, Boston's Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced two major steps to expand and improve the Kids Compute 2001 School Technology Initiative. Elron Software, Inc., Boston's newest school technology partner, will provide state-of-the-art protection against Internet pornography sites on all Boston public school computers. Mayor Menino also announced that Boston is the recipient of $11.7 million in federal money to be used to improve technology in the Boston Public Schools and libraries.

Mayor Menino said: "We have made a lot of announcements this past year about our school technology effort, but this is the one that will mean the most to our students and teachers. Our newest school technology partner, Massachusetts-based Elron Software, is working hard with us to provide the best protection we can for our students from inappropriate Internet sites. Additionally, the money we are receiving from the federal government will mean that even more students will have computer access and an education that will prepare them for their future careers."

Elron Software's $1.25 million software donation will provide "CommandView Internet Manager" monitoring on the 65,000 computers in Boston's public schools and community centers. The software screens the Internet and blocks pornographic material based on the site's address and content using a proprietary Elron technology called SmartList(tm). Elron's CommandView Internet Manager will be used in the Boston Public Schools in conjunction with the existing list-based filtering software.

"Most filtering software uses older technology that cannot keep up with the explosive growth of offensive material on the Internet, and while struggling to keep up, these older products often end up blocking access to sites that are a legitimate resource to students and teachers," said Elron Software's CFO Duncan Perry.

"We have applied the latest technology for language recognition to develop products that can adapt to the constantly changing Internet, and overcome the limitations of older filtering software. Our CommandView Internet Manager provides protection to schools and businesses," said Perry.

In addition to Elron Software, Mayor Menino was joined at the March 19th event by Thomas W. Payzant, Superintendent of Schools; Elizabeth Reilinger, Chair of the Boston School Committee; and Bernard Margolis, President of the Boston Public Library.

About Kids Compute 2001

Mayor Menino launched Kids Compute 2001 in January 1996. Last October, Boston became the first urban school district in the nation to provide a network for every school and library. Boston is home to the nation's first free computer training course for teachers at HiQ Computers in Roxbury. Mayor Menino has committed to providing one computer for every four students by 2001.

About Elron Software, Inc.

Elron Software Inc. (Cambridge, MA), Internet Products Division, is part of Elron Electronic Industries LTD., (NASDAQ:ELRNF) - a multi-national company headquartered in Haifa, Israel. In 1997, combined sales for the Elron group were $1.2 billion. With an installed base of six million licensed users at over 13,000 organizations, Elron Software's Internet Products Division provides solutions to help organizations maximize the productivity and performance of Internet connected networks. Elron Software's customers include: Westinghouse, NFL Properties, Inc., U.S. Army, Coca-Cola Bottling Company Ltd., Stride Rite Corporation, and BF Goodrich. For additional information about Elron Software, visit the Elron web site at (www.elronsoftware.com) or call Elron Software toll-free at 1-800-406-5833.