DIGEX INTROS HIGH PERFORMANCE FIREWALL APPLIANCE TO MANAGED SECURITY SUITE.

Digex, Incorporated (Nasdaq: DIGX), a managed hosting provider for business on the Internet, has announced it is expanding its managed security offerings by introducing a new high-speed firewall offering. This new firewall appliance will provide Digex clients with a consistent and reliable security infrastructure, while managing large volumes of business transactions. The Digex high-speed firewall offering is built on Nokia's highest performing Internet security appliance, the Nokia IP740, tightly integrated with Check Point Software Technologies industry- leading FireWall-1 software.

Configured to run with Digex's hardened server build, the new firewall offering delivers gigabit plus performance, is designed for maximum uptime with "hot swappable" components, redundant power supply options and is easily configured, updated and maintained from a remote central location. Extremely reliable and scalable, the new firewall offering accommodates rapid network growth, and is compatible with other third-party software applications such as intrusion detection and anti-virus, allowing for future expansion and integration of security services. In addition, the new firewall offering utilizes a uniquely engineered feature called Firewall Flows, which moves the Stateful Inspection process to the hardware level, significantly reducing the CPU needs of the firewall for increased performance.

J.Crew, a leading retailer of men and women's apparel, is using the Digex high-speed firewall offering for its security needs around its online store. "Up to 15% of our top line revenue is driven by jcrew.com and we cannot afford any breach in security," said Paul G. Fusco, senior vice president and CIO, J.Crew. "The Digex high-speed firewall service allows us to concentrate on what we do best by securely and efficiently guarding our e-business initiatives."

As with all Digex products and services, the new high-speed firewall will be available to all managed hosting and application customers served by WorldCom (Nasdaq: WCOM) through the WorldCom-Digex affiliation.

The Digex managed firewall service includes full rule set configurations. The new high-speed firewall is integrated into the Digex Network Operations Center (NOC) to monitor firewall performance. Performance parameters are pre- established for packet-per-second traffic, CPU utilization and concurrent connections.

The addition of the high-speed firewall service to the Digex managed security suite addresses the rapidly expanding security needs of enterprise clients as the market for firewall technology in the US alone is forecasted to increase by 27% over the next four years ("Global network security markets to 2005" Datamonitor, December 2000).

"As more and more enterprise organizations use the Internet for mission critical applications, there is a high demand for the very highest levels of security," said Martha Gilbertson, vice president of product management at Digex. "Firewalls are an important means for ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data without compromising the necessary speed to support our clients' increasing site traffic."

With Digex managed firewalls solutions, clients receive the industry's most proven firewall solution, complete with high levels of scalability, ease of implementation, user satisfaction, availability and support. Enterprises gain peace of mind from enhanced protection for Web content and applications. Companies are able to focus on Internet and business strategies instead of on technical and security concerns. All Digex managed hosting solutions are supported by Digex SmartServices, a comprehensive package of services covering administration, reporting, backup, monitoring and security, running over the award winning WorldCom global IP network.