Counterpane and MessageLabs Join Forces To Deliver Secure Email Services To Enterprises

Global security experts deliver comprehensive managed security services to protect email communications and sensitive data in networks

Mountain View, CA and New York, February 15, 2005 - Counterpane Internet Security, the leading protector of networked information, and MessageLabs, the leading provider of email security and management services to businesses, today announced a partnership to deliver a comprehensive suite of managed security services to enterprises globally.

Under the agreement, Counterpane plans to integrate MessageLabs' full range of managed email security services, which provide protection from viruses, spam and control of content, with its comprehensive Enterprise Protection Suite™ (EPS) managed security solution. When delivered in combination, the complementary solutions offer protection for vital corporate information, network assets and email communications.

Keeping up with today's new and emerging email threats, as well as the latest regulatory compliance requirements, is a huge challenge for organizations and demands continuous investment in hardware, software and internal resources.

"Enterprises are under an unprecedented amount of pressure to secure their data, and the communication channels around it," said Paul Stich, president and chief executive officer for Counterpane. "By integrating MessageLabs' services with Counterpane's solution, our customers can seamlessly achieve compliance with government and industry regulations, protect confidential corporate information and secure email communications."

Both Counterpane and MessageLabs invest in the latest technology and expertise on behalf of organizations to ensure the latest protection at all times.

"Internet threats can cause downtime and have significant cost implications," says Jos White, president of MessageLabs Inc. "Enterprises can benefit from the joint solution offered by MessageLabs and Counterpane in many ways - a managed service can free up in-house IT resources, increase employee productivity and enhance the efficiency and operability of email systems by combating the threats that place them at risk. This in turn can raise network utilization levels through reduced email volumes and less demand on Internet bandwidth."

Counterpane's Enterprise Protection Suite (EPS) provides customers with a strategic advantage through a single-source network security solution. The new release, EPS 2.0, consolidates traditionally separate service functions, such as security monitoring, carrier level protection and email scanning, to provide a more unified view of disparate network activity. This provides a more robust defense against multiple points of network attacks, alleviates complexities in compliance reporting and reduces customer administrative overhead.

Combined with MessageLabs' services, Counterpane's managed security solution enable enterprises to enforce email security policies relating to the use and misuse of email communications, giving them an audit path, as well as helping them manage traffic loads more effectively through Counterpane's web portal.

Counterpane's Email Scanning Services, powered by MessageLabs, include:

• Anti-Spam -- Features a multi-layered approach -- including MessageLabs Skeptic™ Anti-Spam predictive technology, industry-leading third party technology and additional layers of detection techniques - designed to stop all spam before it reaches corporate networks while ensuring that businesses receive legitimate email.
• Anti-Virus -- Combats known and unknown viruses before they reach corporate networks. Using multiple scanners and MessageLabs' Skeptic predictive technology, it provides organizations with protection before signatures are available.
• Content Control - Enables enterprises to identify and control confidential, malicious, or inappropriate content sent or received by employees, such as offensive language, harassment or confidential company information. It offers a solution to preserve the confidentiality and security of data, reduce legal liability and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Image Control -- Scans and detects inappropriate images in attachments such as pornography or other unwanted images. Image Control goes beyond the flesh tone analysis of standard filters, using image composition analysis to provide accurate detection of such images.

Delivered at the Internet-level, this suite of managed email security services maximizes the return on investment thereby reducing the total cost of ownership associated with traditional enterprise in-house solutions.

About Counterpane

Counterpane is the world's leading protector of networked information -- the inventor of outsourced security monitoring and the foremost authority on effective mitigation of emerging IT threats. With the most comprehensive view available of global information security events, Counterpane offers customers the earliest possible warning of internal or external threats to their information security and availability, as well as the expert counsel required to successfully mitigate such threats. Counterpane's managed service model and technology products provide information-intensive organizations the security they require to collaborate with ever-increasing numbers of partners, customers, suppliers, investors and government regulators. The company is privately held and headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.

About MessageLabs

MessageLabs is the world's leading provider of email security and management services with more than 600 channel partners, 10,000 clients and offices in 8 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.messagelabs.com.