Zone Labs Expands Endpoint Security Protection with Acquisition of Instant Messaging Security Company

Zone Labs Now Secures the Latest Threat to Internet Security and the Endpoint PC – Instant Messaging

San Francisco, CA. – August 12, 2003 – Zone Labsr Inc., the leading creator of endpoint security solutions, today announced the acquisition of IMsecure, the developer of security for instant messaging (IM) services. Zone Labs now secures PCs from vulnerabilities introduced via any client that accesses IM services such as AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. As a result, Zone Labs now protects the three most popular Internet activities: web-browsing, email, and instant messaging. As a first step in its instant messaging security strategy, Zone Labs is shipping the new Zone Labs IMsecure Pro and IMsecure for the consumer/small business market today. Zone Labs will be incorporating these safeguards into its enterprise security product, Zone Labs Integrity, by year-end 2003.

With the acquisition of the IMsecure company, Zone Labs gains additional expertise, talent and intellectual property in the realm of real-time communications. IMsecure employees, including the original development team, are now valued Zone Labs employees. In addition, Zone Labs owns the rights to all IMsecure intellectual property.

“With millions of users of instant messaging systems, IM has arrived as part of the world’s communications fabric,” said Eric Ogren, senior analyst at the Yankee Group. “The security problem is that each instant message, and IM-borne attachment, can bear a potential payload that could disrupt the productivity of the user, or worse, cause data loss or theft of confidential information. Client-side software is the best approach for securing IM to the desktop while providing a level of audit control that enterprise management requires.”

Further underscoring the importance of safeguards for this rapidly emerging communications medium, Gartner Inc. predicts that by 2004, an IM hacker will capture and publicize confidential corporate information sent across the IM public network. Meta Group predicts that by 2007 over 90% of Global 2000 knowledge workers will be running an instant messaging service. Unbeknownst to most IM users, instant messaging can breach security defenses; in effect poking a hole in the existing defenses of a PC or network to create unsecured ‘open doors’ for hackers, viruses and malicious code.

“As the leader of Internet security solutions, it is our job to innovate and secure the next significant vulnerability – instant messaging – so that users can take advantage of the exciting possibilities opened by this communications method,” said Gregor Freund, CEO and co-founder, Zone Labs. “As IM becomes increasingly relied upon in the corporate world, it is imperative that we expand our endpoint security technology to protect this new tool from threats posed by hackers, data thieves and malicious code.”

Unlike traditional approaches to IM security which require proxy servers or use firewall-like rules to block IM traffic, Zone Labs takes a client-centric approach to protecting PCs using IM. As a result, enterprises can easily add IM protection to their existing security infrastructure, while retaining the benefits and flexibility that existing public IM services provide. Companies can safeguard their employees’ existing use of public IM networks, eliminating the need for costly retraining or installation of proprietary IM solutions. Consumer and small business IM users benefit from this approach, too, as they can add security to their existing use of IM.

In keeping with Zone Labs’ philosophy that security must be both powerful and easy to use, Zone Labs’ has created a security solution for IM communications that even the novice user can successfully employ and that fits seamlessly into existing network infrastructure. Zone Labs will provide these capabilities for both the enterprise market and the consumer/small business market.

Zone Labs’ enterprise product roadmap includes plans for introducing an IM security component to its award-winning enterprise endpoint security solution, Zone Labs Integrity. A new version of Integrity will include these measures and be available in the fourth quarter of 2003.

For the consumer and small business market, Zone Labs’ announced immediate availability for download and purchase of the company’s newest security products, IMsecure Pro and IMsecure. IMsecure Pro protects users from a variety of IM-borne risks, such as theft of sensitive personal information and intrusions by hackers, worms and Spyware, while using programs that access IM services such as AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. In addition, IMsecure Pro keeps IM conversations secure by preventing unauthorized users from eavesdropping or impersonating online ‘buddies’. A basic IM security product, IMsecure, provides simple inbound threat protection from buffer overflow attacks and also offers Message Encryption for one IM account to protect instant messages from being monitored.

Availability Information
IMsecure Pro 1.0 is available immediately for purchase and download from the Zone Labs web site at www.zonelabs.com for $19.95, including one year of security updates. A 15-day trial version of IMsecure Pro also is available on the Zone Labs site.

For those users who want only basic IM security, IMsecure 1.0 is available from the Zone Labs web site at no cost for personal and non-profit use.

Zone Labs will also incorporate IM security into its enterprise endpoint security solution, Zone Labs Integrity, by year-end 2003.

About Zone Labs, Inc.
Zone Labs, one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, is a leading creator of endpoint security solutions protecting millions of PCs from risks posed by hackers and data theft. The company’s award-winning endpoint security product line is deployed in global enterprises, small businesses and consumers’ homes, protecting them from Internet-borne threats. Zone Labs Integrityr is an endpoint security management platform that protects corporate data and productivity. ZoneAlarmr Pro, ZoneAlarm Plus and ZoneAlarm are among the most popular and successful Internet security products available today while IMsecureT Pro and IMsecure offer essential security for instant messaging.

Founded in 1997, Zone Labs is a private company headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, with European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. For more information, please visit Zone Labs at www.zonelabs.com.

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Editor’s Notes: TrueVector, ZoneAlarm, the Zone Labs logo and Zone Labs are registered trademarks of Zone Labs Inc. Zone Labs Integrity, IMSecure and Smarter Security are trademarks of Zone Labs Inc. AlertAdvisor is a service mark of Zone Labs Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Zone Labs Integrity protected under U.S. Patent No. 5,987,611. Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off