McAfee Launches VirusScan 3.0; Features New Hunter Virus Detection Engine, Office 97 Macro Virus Protection, and Free Automated Upgrades; VirusScan's New Hunter Anti-Virus Engine Detects 100% of Viruses in Latest Secure Computing Magazine Review.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 1997--McAfee (NASDAQ:MCAF), the world's leading vendor of anti-virus software, today announced VirusScan 3.0 for Windows 95 and VirusScan Deluxe 3.0. VirusScan 3.0 has been enhanced to provide higher virus detection rates, Office 97 application protection, automated updating via Internet "push" technology, and free electronic upgrades to new versions. According to market researcher IDC, McAfee's VirusScan is the world's most popular anti-virus software, selling more units than all other titles combined.

"VirusScan 3.0 raises the bar on virus detection rates, ease of updating and worldwide support for our customers," said Bill Larson, McAfee's president, chairman and CEO. "Our new Hunter engine technology has delivered 100% detection in recent tests and protects against new threats such as Office 97 macro viruses. We're not resting because we have scored 100% in our initial tests. We're investing aggressively in both development and virus research to maintain the best detection rates available."

VirusScan Detects 100% of Viruses in Key Tests

VirusScan's improved detection rates have been independently verified by Secure Computing magazine, a leading international computer security journal based in the United Kingdom. According to a review of the VirusScan 3.0 beta in the March issue of Secure Computing, VirusScan 3.0 detected 100 percent of all viruses in Secure Computing's standard testbed of viruses. As a result of VirusScan's strong showing, the product was awarded the "SC Recommended" seal of approval, Secure Computing's highest award for standalone product reviews. VirusScan 3.0's predecessor also scored 100% detection rates in a National Computer Security Association review of in-the-wild viruses and 100% of boot sector viruses in the November VSUM report.

"The McAfee VirusScan Hunter engine represents a significant advance for McAfee's anti-virus technology," said Paul Robinson, editor of Secure Computing. "Our testing has shown that VirusScan provides computer users solid protection against viruses, as evidenced by their 100% detection rate score in our test."

This high detection rate is enabled by McAfee's new Hunter engine. The Hunter engine employs a combination of sophisticated virus analysis technologies to detect all types of viruses, including Microsoft Word, Mail and Excel macros; boot sector infectors; file infectors; polymorphic viruses; multi-partite viruses; encrypted viruses and new viruses written in Microsoft Visual Basic. The Hunter technology includes over three thousand new virus detectors, including virus strings from Asian and European research centers, and specialized algorithms for detection of polymorphic viruses.

VirusScan 3.0 Protects Against Microsoft Office 97 Macro Virus Threat

Of the estimated 11,000 known computer viruses, only about 250, or 2%, are macro viruses, yet these macro viruses account for half of all virus infections. Macro virus outbreaks spread rapidly as Word or Excel documents are attached to e-mail messages. Macro viruses in Office 97 are written in a new common macro scripting language, Microsoft Visual Basic 5 (VB5). This new common scripting language poses a serious new virus threat.

"We view VB5 as the emerging platform for macro viruses," said Jimmy Kuo, McAfee's Director of anti-virus research. "With just a few simple macro code modifications, virus writers can take a macro virus written for Word documents and alter it to attack Excel spreadsheets. The applications of software vendors and VARs who have licensed VB5 as their standard scripting language can also be easily targeted by these macro virus writers."

While Office 97 contains some protection against macro viruses, McAfee anti-virus researchers have found that approximately 36% of all macro viruses written for previous Microsoft applications still operate in the new Office 97 environment. With the introduction of VirusScan 3.0, McAfee is one of the industry's first anti-virus software vendors to protect against Office 97 macro viruses and other viruses written in Microsoft's new VB5 scripting language.

McAfee the Only Anti-Virus Vendor with Global Anti-Virus Research Facilities

McAfee is committed to providing the industry's highest virus detection rates in VirusScan. To deliver the highest detection rates, McAfee has opened new anti-virus research centers in Japan and the Netherlands. These new laboratories join McAfee's existing facility in Santa Clara, Calif., to comprise McAfee's Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team (AVERT). AVERT is the only virus research team with professional virus researchers in North America, Europe and Asia.

AVERT researchers work 24 hours a day to analyze approximately 1,000 suspect new viruses submitted each month by McAfee customers. In order to provide rapid response to emerging virus threats, AVERT now posts hourly beta updates for detectors of new viruses on the Internet at beta.mcafee.com. McAfee is the industry's only anti-virus vendor to provide this level of protection.

VirusScan 3.0 First Retail Anti-Virus Software to Include One Year of Free Upgrades

VirusScan 3.0 retail customers will receive free electronic upgrades to new versions for one year. This business policy insures that VirusScan customers will not have to pay upgrade fees when new versions of Windows are released or major new classes of viruses are discovered. Retail customers who purchase VirusScan Deluxe will receive two free years of upgrades.

VirusScan customers will also continue to receive electronic virus signature updates for free, for the life of the product. Other anti-virus vendors, such as Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC), charge for major upgrades, requiring the retail user to spend more money and more time to stay protected.

VirusScan SecureCast Automates Download of Anti-Virus Updates

Because 200 new viruses are discovered each month, anti-virus software must be updated regularly to maintain maximum effectiveness. To address this requirement, VirusScan now features SecureCast, the world's first software distribution service to automatically deliver software updates to users over the Internet. Traditional "pull" anti-virus updating mechanisms require a user to request an update and wait for it to download. SecureCast's new "push" capability automatically distributes virus signature updates and full version upgrades, using unused bandwidth in an Internet connection. This "push" mechanism will save users time and help them maintain maximum virus protection. In addition to distributing free updates and upgrades, SecureCast distributes free virus alerts and technical notes to help users protect their data. SecureCast also includes easy to use "pull" update mechanisms for customers with no Internet connection or for Internet customers who prefer to manually control the download process.

McAfee Provides a Total Solution for Anti-Virus Defense

VirusScan 3.0 is a key component of McAfee's Total Virus Defense strategy. McAfee's Total Virus Defense provides the most comprehensive protection from virus infection in the industry. McAfee products provide protection on the desktop, on servers, on Internet gateways and in groupware and email servers. McAfee's Hunter virus detection technology, combined with the Company's AVERT anti-virus research teams and SecureCast automatic updating service, are common components which will be used broadly across McAfee's product line in the future.

In addition to VirusScan, McAfee's other anti-virus solutions include NetShield, which protects Windows NT and NetWare servers; WebShield, a solution which protects firewall and Internet gateway environments by scanning all HTTP, FTP, and SMTP traffic; GroupScan and GroupShield, which provide the industry's only native anti-virus protection for Lotus Notes environments; and WebScan, which protects Windows 95 and Windows NT desktops from downloading virus-infected files over the Internet. -0-

Comparison Of McAfee And Symantec Desktop Anti-Virus Products

Feature/Product       VirusScan 3.0 for          Symantec Norton
                          Windows 95              Anti-virus 3.0

Estimated street price        $49                      $69
One year of free engine
  and signature
  file upgrades                Yes                      No
Two years of free engine
  and signature file upgrades
  (VirusScan Deluxe, street
   price $59)                  Yes                      No
"Push" technology for
  automatic delivery of
  updates and upgrades         Yes                      No
Anti-virus research team
  on 3 continents              Yes                      No
Daily beta updates of
  signature files              Yes                      No
Free local and Internet
  data backup for recovery
  in case of infection
  (VirusScan Deluxe)           Yes                      No
Multimedia virus tutorial      Yes                      No

-0-

Pricing and Availability

VirusScan 3.0 for Windows 95 begins shipping electronically via McAfee's web site today and begins shipping through retail channels on March 3. The software carries a suggested retail price of $65.00 and an estimated street price of $49.00. This low price for VirusScan 3.0 includes one year of electronic upgrades and virus signature updates for the life of the product.

VirusScan Deluxe 3.0, available March 5, carries a suggested retail price of $79.00 and an estimated street price of $69.00. VirusScan Deluxe provides electronic upgrades for two years and electronic virus signature updates for the life of the product. VirusScan Deluxe also includes McAfee's QuickBackup desktop backup software and six months of free access to McAfee's Internet backup service, the McAfee Personal Vault. QuickBackup and the McAfee Personal Vault give users extra protection for safe storage of critical data.

Founded in 1989, McAfee is a leading worldwide vendor of Network Security and Management products for enterprise networks. The Company is also a leader in Internet and Web-based electronic software distribution. McAfee is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and can be reached by phone at [phone] or by fax at [phone]. McAfee's Web address is http://www.mcafee.com .

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