Mail.com's MailZone Protects Corporate Messaging Systems From Potential Abuse by Temporary Workers

Business Wire, March 21, 2000

Business & Technology Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2000

MailZone Screens Electronic Messages for Viruses, Spam, Inappropriate

Attachments and Offensive Content

They're often lifesavers, the temporary workers who come onboard to fill in during vacations or lend their technical expertise to an important project. But the same people -- with access to the client's e-mail system -- can knowingly or unwittingly do more harm than good.

The impact of such abuse was reinforced last week with news that a temporary worker at a prominent investment banking and securities firm leaked confidential information about an impending deal over the Internet. The man is said to have obtained the data by stealing documents from trash cans and printers, and rummaging through desks.

To safeguard corporate messaging systems from potential abuse by temporary workers, Mail.com (NASDAQ: MAIL), the leader in Internet messaging solutions to businesses, provides organizations with MailZone, its e-mail firewall service, that works without hardware or software, screening incoming and outbound messages for viruses, spam, inappropriate attachments and offensive content.

"The possibilities of what could go wrong with a full-time employee are bad enough, but imagine the damage a temporary worker could cause with just a few keystrokes," said Richard A. Bliss, vice president of business development and marketing at Mail.com's Allegro subsidiary. "These people aren't well-versed in the company's e-mail policy -- or they don't care since they have no real attachment to the organization. So they feel free to e-mail an off-color joke or details about what they're working on to a few friends."

"Either way," Bliss said, "someone may be offended by a bad sense of humor, a competitor obtains sensitive information or insider trading laws have been violated. And the electronic paper trail leads directly back to the hiring company -- not necessarily the individual."

Viruses also pose a substantial risk for companies without MailZone's front-end protection. A temporary worker may simply open an e-mail infected with a virus and wreak havoc on the network or destroy valuable electronic records.

Brett Schulte, a network manager with the Atlanta-based Alignis Inc., believes other organizations should take fair warning. His company, which hires temporary workers, recently began subscribing to the MailZone service.

"In today's litigious society, allowing any employee e-mail access is a risk," Schulte said, "and even more so with contract or temporary employees. Not only can they receive and spread a variety of dangerous or libelous content, but everything they send out has our name on it, too. MailZone addresses all these issues, from finding a macro virus to a racial joke, all in one extremely easy-to-manage product."

About Mail.com Business Messaging Services

Mail.com Business Messaging Services (BMS) is a leading global provider of outsourced messaging solutions for businesses. Our solution set includes hosted Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise and Web/POP3-based e-mail services; hosted e-mail firewall services such as virus scanning, spam blocking and content filtering; and a full range of Web-based, desktop and production Internet Fax solutions. Used by 8,500 corporations worldwide, Mail.com is the Company more enterprises turn to for outsourced messaging solutions. Further information about MailZone and a range of other Internet messaging solutions is available at www.allegro.net or the Mail.com corporate Web site: http://corp.mail.com.

About Mail.Com

Founded in 1996, Mail.com Inc. is a one-stop resource for Internet messaging services, providing reliable feature-rich e-mail and Internet fax services to businesses, ISPs, Web sites and direct to consumers through its flagship Web site: http://www.mail.com. Mail.com has a technology infrastructure of IP network facilities in 20 key countries and currently serves more than 12 million e-mailboxes and 8,500 corporate customers worldwide. Information about Mail.com (NASDAQ: MAIL) is available at http://corp.mail.com.

This news release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature relating to the future events or the future financial results of Mail.com. Investors are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating such statements, investors should specifically consider the various factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated from such forward-looking statements, including the matters set forth in Mail.com's reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.