Expand Announces First Wan Optimization Algorithm To Protect Data Privacy.

Business/High Tech Editors

ROSELAND, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2002

Expand Networks

-- New Algorithm Provides Authentication, Privacy and Data

Integrity Features Vital To Networked

Healthcare and Financial Services --

Expand Networks, a leader in bandwidth optimization technology, today announced the availability of a new Data Privacy algorithm available as a software module in its ACCELERATOR product line.

The new software module addresses increased network capacity needs in the financial and healthcare industries while ensuring data privacy and confidentiality.

Expand's Data Privacy algorithm increases average network capacity by 100%-400% with peaks of upwards of 1000% while providing encryption mechanisms to secure data transmission. The ACCELERATOR's new algorithm is ideal for capacity challenged healthcare and financial branch office private line and frame relay networks.

"This new algorithm responds to increasing data volumes traversing capacity constrained public networks and mounting national legislation to protect the confidentiality of financial transactions and patient records," said Donald Czubek, president and founder, Gen2 Ventures. "The ability to accelerate network traffic and to secure data privacy affordably within a single device clearly differentiates the ACCELERATORs from other products in the same class."

Key features and capabilities of the new Data Privacy algorithm include:

-- Increased WAN capacity -- average increase of 100% to 400% with peaks of upwards of 1000%

-- Maximum strength accelerated data encryption -- 3DES and AES encryption of accelerated data streams ensures the highest and most efficient level of privacy with up to 160-bit encryption available.

-- Highest level of accelerated data integrity -- Maximum reliability of accelerated data delivery through checksum and key validation in addition to other existing data integrity features.

-- ACCELERATOR authentication -- Secure key authentication between ACCELERATORs.

Development of the new enhanced acceleration module was driven by hundreds of Expand financial and healthcare customers in over 70 countries worldwide.

"We could not be more pleased with the increase in Expand product functionality because we have widely-deployed the ACCELERATORs in our remote facilities," said Stephen Hart, systems/network administrator with Dreyer Medical Clinic, a regional premier multi-specialty medical group. "As a leading healthcare provider, the ability to securely accelerate medical images over the WAN is pivotal to clinical staff productivity and patient confidentiality."

"Expand's new Data Privacy algorithm provides investment protection for existing Expand Networks' customers by supporting interoperability with existing deployments," said Pedro Colaco, vice president of Marketing at Expand Networks. "We have seen tremendous interest from existing healthcare and financial customers due to the growing pressures to comply with data privacy."

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks pioneered the development of bandwidth boosting appliances -- the ACCELERATORs -- which increase network capacity by 100 -400+%. The ACCELERATORs eliminate the need for costly WAN link upgrades, enabling quicker deployments of new applications to remote offices. Networked applications such as CRM, Email, ERP, Thin Client and XML increase the strain on scarce WAN resources, often hindering productivity. By removing repeat data patterns found in any type of traffic, the ACCELERATORs provide important bandwidth savings. The end-result is the decrease in network congestion, which in turn speeds up data transfers. Expand Networks allows enterprises to support more networked users, applications and services with fewer resources delivering a typical ROI of 3 to 9 months. Clients include: Motorola, Texas Instruments, Hitachi Capital and the United States Department of Defense. Expand Networks is headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey and Tel Aviv, Israel with offices throughout the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy. To learn more, visit www.expand.com or call 888/892-1250.