TippingPoint Preemptively Protects Customers against Microsoft Vulnerabilities, Including Metafile Vulnerability; Company's Digital Vaccine(R) Service Protects Against Zero Day Threats.

AUSTIN, Texas -- TippingPoint, a division of 3Com and the leader in intrusion prevention, today announced that its TippingPoint(TM) Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) provide protection for all bulletins announced by Microsoft today.

In addition to issues patched by Microsoft today, the TippingPoint IPS also provided preemptive protection against the zero day Microsoft vulnerability in Windows Metafile (WMF) on December 28, 2005, nine days in advance of Microsoft patch availability January 5, 2006. The vulnerability and patch details are also listed in today's Microsoft Bulletin as MS06-001. The WMF flaw was independently discovered on the Internet December 27, and attacks exploiting the vulnerability have been publicly available since that time.

TippingPoint devices were inoculated against these threats through the Digital Vaccine service, a remote update service that provides regular protection against the latest threats. Vulnerabilities can be exploited to compromise business networks and gain access for malicious purposes. TippingPoint provides vulnerability protection in the form of Virtual Software Patches to preemptively protect customers against exploits and worms.

"In today's Microsoft Bulletins, we see more file format vulnerabilities. One of them is in Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF) - a proprietary format used by MS-Exchange and Outlook email clients. This vulnerability could result in an outbreak of worms by compromising both Outlook clients and Exchange Mail servers without user intervention. The other vulnerability in Embedded Web Fonts could be leveraged by malware and spyware if a user clicked on a malicious Web page like the WMF vulnerability," said Dinesh Sequeira, manager of the Digital Vaccine security research team. "An Intrusion Prevention System with vulnerability-based, preemptive protection is the best solution to expedite early protection for threats prior to the emergence of an exploit."

The Digital Vaccine service for the TippingPoint IPS provides protection for all security bulletins announced by Microsoft today:

(1) MS06-001
    Vulnerability in Graphic Rendering Engine Could Allow Remote Code
    Execution
    (Rating: Critical)

    (2) MS06-002
    Vulnerability in Embedded Web Fonts Could Allow Remote Code
    Execution
    (Rating: Critical)

    (3) MS06-003
    Vulnerability in TNEF Decoding in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft
    Exchange Could Allow Remote Code Execution
    (Rating: Critical)

The TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention Systems provide Application Protection, Performance Protection and Infrastructure Protection at gigabit speeds through total packet inspection. Application Protection capabilities provide fast, accurate, reliable protection from internal and external cyber attacks. Through its Infrastructure Protection capabilities, the TippingPoint IPS protects VoIP infrastructure, routers, switches, DNS and other critical infrastructure from targeted attacks and traffic anomalies. TippingPoint's Performance Protection capabilities enable customers to throttle non-mission critical applications that hijack valuable bandwidth and IT resources, thereby aligning network resources and business-critical application performance.

For more information on the Microsoft vulnerabilities, please visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-jan.mspx.

About TippingPoint, a division of 3Com

TippingPoint, a division of 3Com, is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems. The TippingPoint IPS is the most decorated in its industry. For a full list of awards, visit http://www.tippingpoint.com/products_certifications.html. Our innovative approach offers customers unmatched network-based security with unrivaled economics, ultra-high performance, scalability and reliability. TippingPoint is based in Austin, Texas, and can be contacted through its Web site at www.tippingpoint.com or by telephone at 1-888-TRUE-IPS.

About 3Com Corporation

3Com Corporation (NASDAQ: COMS) is a leading provider of secure, converged voice and data networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes. 3Com offers a broad line of innovative products backed by world class sales, service and support, which excel at delivering business value for its customers. Through its TippingPoint division, 3Com is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems that deliver in-depth application protection, infrastructure protection, and performance protection for corporate enterprises, government agencies, service providers and academic institutions. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

Copyright (C) 2005 3Com Corporation. 3Com and Digital Vaccine are registered trademarks and TippingPoint is a trademark of 3Com Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective holders.