Level 3 Deploys AXENT's Market-Leading Intrusion Detection and Assessment Solutions to Enable Safe Internet Access.

Business/Technology Editors

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2000

AXENT's Enterprise Security Manager, NetRecon, Intruder Alert and Privilege Manager for UNIX Provide Comprehensive Security Solution for

Communications Infrastructure

AXENT Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXNT), the world's leading e-security solution provider for e-business announced today that Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) has deployed AXENT(R)'s market-leading Enterprise Security Manager(TM) (ESM), NetRecon(TM), Intruder Alert(TM) and Privilege Manager(TM) for UNIX(R) to provide a comprehensive security solution for Level 3's Internet Protocol (IP) network. Level 3's communication capabilities have become a critical portion of the country's technology and communications infrastructure as organizations deploy more new and more innovative e-business applications. As a result, it is imperative for e-business that Level 3's systems always be available and protected from internal or external threats.

Level 3(TM) is a communications and information services company that is building the first international advanced IP technology-based network. Using its IP-based network, Level 3 focuses on the business market to provide a full range of communications services--including local, long distance and data transmission, as well as other enhanced services. Expanding at a very rapid pace, with more than 3,500 people in 30 physical locations in the United States and Europe, Level 3 needed integrated solutions that would function in both a centralized and decentralized manner within a distributed environment. In addition, security tasks were done manually taking a great deal of man-hours and resources to critically manage security systems.

"When Level 3 first installed AXENT's tools and ran them against production servers, we discovered risk points that people did not know existed, and we were able to eliminate them at virtually no cost. It took one day's worth of effort to eliminate a whole classification of risks," said Jim Patterson, director of global security architecture for Level 3 Communications. "The increased assurance of appropriate security controls is worth the investment many times over. If a company can detect unobserved anomalous behavior, both externally and internally, and is able to take appropriate action, it can prevent disasters before they strike, and save thousands of dollars in people's time and valuable information assets."

Through its unique Lifecycle Security(TM) methodology, AXENT delivers integrated products and expert services to assess, protect, enable and manage business processes and information assets. With AXENT's technology, Level 3 reduced its risk of being compromised, and as a result, has minimized potential losses. The company selected AXENT's ESM and NetRecon to assess vulnerabilities and ensure policy compliance to proactively reduce business risk.

ESM offers Levels 3 day-to-day security policy monitoring, ensuring that servers are in compliance with established policies and informing administrators of policy violations or potential problem areas. NetRecon's progressive scanning works like a "tiger team" of security experts to scan for common ways to penetrate enterprise networks, determine if security vulnerabilities exist and allow IT managers to prioritize activities quickly to plug security holes. NetRecon is tightly integrated with ESM, enabling ESM users to include NetRecon scans in policy runs. The combination of ESM and NetRecon provides a complete internal and external view of an enterprise's security.

Award-winning Intruder Alert helps protect critical information with perimeter security and detects attacks to information to maintain business integrity. Using Intruder Alert, Level 3 gains the firepower to watch who is in the system, what changes they are making and where those changes occur--all in real time. Intruder Alert complements ESM by allowing the system administrator to maintain specific log files of the servers' activity and have the operating system report the activity to a central console.

Privilege Manager for UNIX manages and administers users and resources. An out-of-the-box solution, Privilege Manager for UNIX controls access to root privileges which allows the UNIX managers to delegate administration tasks. Combined, Privilege Manager and Intruder Alert allow Level 3 to quickly determine if any privileged function is being misused, or if anyone is attempting to circumvent normal security policies.

"As companies deploy more applications on the Web, the secure availability of the network infrastructure becomes of paramount concern," said Greg Coticchia, vice president of marketing for AXENT. "AXENT's solutions help companies like Level 3 ensure that their critical communications technology is protected against potential internal and external threats, protecting their business processes and the digital assets behind them."

ESM is the number-one security assessment solution on the market having won numerous acolades in such magazines as Windows NT(R) Magazine, PC Magazine, eWeek, an "Editor's Choice" award in Network Computing, and most recently, several "Best Buy" awards from SECURE Computing Magazine. In addition, International Data Corporation (IDC) named AXENT the worldwide market leader for intrusion detection and assessment (IDnA) software, of which ESM, NetRecon and Intruder Alert(R) are integral components.

About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 (NASDAQ: LVLT) is a communications and information services company offering a broad selection of IP-based services including transport, colocation services, the industry's first Softswitch based services, and submarine services. As a network and telecom enabler, Level 3 offers services primarily to Web-centric enterprises that add value and deliver their services to end users over the Level 3 Network. The Level 3 Network includes metropolitan networks in 56 U.S. cities and 23 international cities connected by an approximately 16,000 mile U.S. intercity (long-distance) network and an approximately 4,750 mile European intercity network. The U.S. portion of the Level 3 Network is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2001. Level 3 currently offers e-business and communications services in 26 U.S. cities and four European cities. Its Web address is www.Level3.com.

About AXENT(R)

AXENT Technologies, Inc., a global leader in information security, provides e-security solutions that maximize its customers' business advantage. AXENT delivers integrated products and expert services to assess, protect, enable and manage business processes and information assets, as well as to facilitate trust level management(TM) within its customers' environments. Through its unique Lifecycle Security(TM) Methodology, combined with Smart Security Architecture, AXENT delivers the 'right' level of trusted e-security for customers. Award-winning solutions offer assessment and policy compliance, firewall, intrusion detection, authentication and authorization technology, virtual private networking, Web access and single sign-on for enterprises and e-businesses.

Headquartered in Rockville, MD, AXENT's customer-proven information security solutions are used by 45 of the Fortune 50, one-third of the Fortune e-50 and governments worldwide. Contact AXENT via e-mail at [e-mail], or visit AXENT's World Wide Web site at http://www.axent.com.

AXENT, AXENT Technologies, the AXENT logo, Lifecycle Security, Enterprise Security Manager, NetRecon, Intruder Alert, trust level management and Privilege Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States and certain other countries, of AXENT Technologies, Inc. or its subsidiaries. UNIX is a registered trademark licensed exclusively by X/Open Company; Level 3 is a trademark of Level 3 Communications, Inc. All other product names and trademarks are the property of their respective