Sygate Technologies Company News

SYGATE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE OFFERING TO TEST AND PROTECT AGAINST NETWORK VULNERABILITY

Fremont, CALIF.¾December 11, 2000 - Sygate® Technologies, Inc. (formerly Sybergen Networks), a leading provider of Internet security and access management solutions for the mobile enterprise generation, today announced a comprehensive program that simultaneously tests networks' vulnerability and protects networks against hacker attacks. The offering consists of Sygate's new service offering, Sygate Online Services (S.O.S.) and a special promotional rate on Sygate Personal Firewall.

S.O.S., located at http://scan.sygatetech.com, provides users with a variety of free security scans that check for and report on security gaps that could lead to costly, havoc-wreaking intrusions. In conjunction with the introduction of this new service, Sygate Technologies, Inc. is offering the professional version of its award-winning Sygate Personal Firewall software (formerly Sybergen Secure Desktop) at a special rate of $10,000 for 10,000 users, through January 19, 2001 (www.sygate.com/tenforten.htm). The regular price is $39.95 per seat.

Users of S.O.S. can measure their networks' vulnerability, and then take advantage of Sygate's promotional rate on the professional version of Sygate Personal Firewall. With Sygate Personal Firewall on each remote user's system, corporate assets are safe from attacks. In addition, remote users are not threatened by intruders while connecting to their enterprise network via a VPN connection.

At a time when large and small enterprises are experiencing malicious attacks on corporate networks, Sygate Technologies, Inc. aims to increase awareness of security-related issues, monitor Internet and network security and serve as a resource for detecting and pre-empting potential security strikes.

"With the introduction of this special program, Sygate Technologies is offering its customers a two-step approach to protect their networks. Sygate is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of network security, and to providing economical access to proven security solutions," stated John De Santis, president and CEO, Sygate Technologies, Inc. "Recently, a hacker successfully infiltrated Microsoft's network by planting a malicious application on a remote user's computer at home. The hacker then connected to the Microsoft LAN and slowly gained access to servers containing Microsoft's source code. By gaining access to a remote computer, the hacker was able to gain access to the corporate network.

Every enterprise network is vulnerable to this same type of attack, unless a company's remote users are being protected all the time," continued De Santis. "Sygate Personal Firewall protects remote users by blocking all applications that are not explicitly allowed by the administrator. In the Microsoft example, the Trojan horse application would have never been granted access to send any data outside of the remote user's system had Sygate Personal Firewall been deployed. Additionally, S.O.S. offers valuable information about dangerous holes in companies' networks and Internet access security. S.O.S. offers vital information about networks' current security levels as well as the opportunity to take pre-emptive, proactive security measures, such as implementing a solution like Sygate Personal Firewall."

Sygate Technologies' unique Sygate Online Services now includes five types of scans that address various online computing environments and common security concerns. Additional scans are in development and will be introduced in the coming months.

Sygate's Quick Scan performs a quick and accurate port scan of a computer to detect open, closed, and blocked ports. This scan examines only commonly used services, Trojans, and protocols, and takes only about twenty seconds to complete. Sygate's Stealth Scan uses various stealth techniques to penetrate firewalls. It only scans commonly used TCP services and also takes about twenty seconds to complete.

The Trojan Scan tests various known Trojan ports for the existence of a listening, active Trojan. This scan searches for active Trojan horse programs throughout all 65,535 TCP ports and takes about ten minutes to complete. Sygate's TCP Scan currently scans the main 1,024 TCP ports used for open services. This scan uses various stealth methods to reach computers shielded by firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and takes about twenty minutes to complete.

Sygate Technologies is currently developing a more comprehensive TCP scan, which will scan all 65,535 ports. Sygate Technologies, Inc. is also developing two additional scans, including a full UDP Scan, which will scan for open UDP ports. These are seldom used for legitimate services, and are often used by Trojans and denial of service (DOS) attacks. This new scan will utilize various methods to determine if the firewall is effectively blocking the UDP packets. Also in development is an ICMP Scan, which will scan computers for ping replies and various other ICMP types. Sygate will also test class C subnet for vulnerability to Broadcast Ping attacks. It should be noted that the personal information gathered in these tests is not retained or sold in any way by Sygate Technologies, Inc.

Sygate Personal Firewall can be deployed either for individual end user control to protect a single computer, or deployed for centralized control of a network environment. For mobile workers traveling or working from home who are outside the protection of their corporate network, Sygate Personal Firewall complements other security devices such as VPNs.

An intuitive and user-friendly interface - Sygate Personal Firewall allows the user to simply install and set the security level to the desired setting or customize the levels.
Immediate notification of possible intrusion threats via either on-screen visual notification and/or email
Integrated application-level policy - Any application can be allowed or blocked from accessing the network, and the user is prompted if any unauthorized application attempts to access the network.
Trusted IP allows only certain computers in the network to access the secured PC, while blocking others

Other features include customized security activity reports, central policy administration and central monitoring, and the ability to test network access vulnerability via Sygate Online Services.

Sygate Technologies, Inc., formerly Sybergen Networks, Inc, was founded to address an explosive market for secure Internet access products that is estimated to exceed $1B by 2002. Today Sygate Technologies, Inc. serves more than two million users through its flagship product, Sygate Home Network, which was introduced in 1997 as SyGateÒ for Home Office, and quickly became the leading Internet-sharing software. Sygate Home Network allows multiple computers to securely share a single Internet connection, modem and phone line. In addition, the company offers innovative, flexible Internet security and access management solutions designed to address the specific needs of corporate environments, satellite offices and service bureaus, small/medium businesses, telecommuters and the mobile workforce. Sygate Technologies' products have been widely adopted by users and companies worldwide including Xerox, Cisco and Dell. Sygate Technologies' products are available from resellers, its Web site, www.sygate.com, or by calling (510) 742-2600 or (866) 4SYGATE.