Top Layer Networks Positioned in Analyst Firm's Intrusion Prevention System Magic Quadrant Based on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. -- Top Layer Networks, the global leader for high performance intrusion prevention solutions, today announced that Gartner, Inc., the leading independent technology research and advisory firm has positioned Top Layer Networks on the axis of the leader and visionary quadrants in the Gartner report titled, "Magic Quadrant for Network Intrusion Prevention System Appliances, 2H05."

According to the report, to be listed in the leader's quadrant, vendors must demonstrate balanced progress and effort on all execution and vision categories. Their actions raise the competitive bar for all products in the market, and they can change the course of the industry. To remain in the Leaders quadrant, these vendors must have demonstrated a track record of delivering successfully in enterprise IPS deployments and winning in competitive assessments. Leaders produce products that provide high signature quality, offer low latency, and have a range of models. Leaders consistently win selections and have been consistently visible on enterprise shortlists. The report defines vendors listed in the visionary quadrant as investing in the leading/bleeding edge features that will be significant in next generation of products and give buyers early access to improved security and management. Visionaries can affect the course of technological developments in the market, but they lack the execution skills to outmaneuver challengers and leaders.

"We are honored that Gartner recognizes our unique position in the IPS market based on our completeness of vision and ability to execute. We believe this recognition is testament to Top Layer's hard work in creating and bringing to market intrusion prevention technologies that solve real enterprise security concerns," said Peter Rendall, president and CEO of Top Layer Networks. "Top Layer's innovative approach combines stateful firewall, content-based IPS/IDS, and attack mitigation algorithms to provide customers with Three Dimensional Protection (3DP) against undesired access, malicious content and rate-based attacks. Our IPS 5500 provides the high-performance, comprehensive protection from today's sophisticated attacks that enterprises seek, all in one easy-to-manage device."

Evaluation Criteria

Products that qualify for the "Magic Quadrant for Network Intrusion Prevention System Appliances, 2H05" are judged on each vendor's "Ability to Execute" and "Completeness of Vision." The Ability to Execute is categorized by: product service and customer satisfaction; overall business viability; sales execution and pricing; market responsiveness and track record; market execution; and customer experience and operations. Completeness of Vision, a long-term metric, is based on: market understanding and strategy; sales strategy including pre- and post-product support and value for pricing; offering strategy, with emphasis on product road map, signature quality, next-generation firewall integration and performance; business model; vertical, industry and geographic strategy; and innovation, including R&D.

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted November 30, 2005 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About the Top Layer IPS 5500

The IPS 5500 family of products offers the strongest levels of network protection, performance and reliability on the market today. By combining stateful firewall, content-based IPS/IDS, and attack mitigation algorithms, the IPS 5500 is the only solution that provides Three Dimensional Protection (3DP) against undesired access, malicious content and rate-based attacks. Top Layer's architecture enables the IPS 5500 to protect enterprises and service providers from sophisticated, hybrid attacks in real-time while enabling the highest throughput of legitimate traffic.

The IPS 5500 remains the only IPS to receive double NSS Lab Approval for both rate-based and content-based IPS protection. It has also won approval from industry publications such as Information Security Magazine, SC Magazine, Computer Reseller News, among others.

To learn more about the IPS 5500, visit www.toplayer.com or call [phone].

About Top Layer Networks

Top Layer Networks is dedicated to its role as the leading global provider of Network Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), developing and bringing to market network security infrastructure solutions that help commercial and government organizations protect their critical on-line assets from the losses and risks associated with cyber threats. Its family of IPS appliances is designed with "Three Dimensional Protection" that provides the most advanced protection capabilities against known and unknown attacks at the highest tested performance rates. Top Layer Networks is headquartered in Massachusetts, USA with sales and support presence in Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.