Security Tool From St. Bernard Software Prevents Cyber Terrorism

Business Wire, Sept 25, 2001

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2001

According to the FBI's counterterrorism division, federal officials have become increasingly concerned about the potential for cyber terrorism.

They have advised public agencies and the private sector to put their computer security on "a heightened state of alert." This means a proactive approach is required.

In the past six months, computer viruses and worms have wreaked havoc on computer systems worldwide. From Melissa to I Love You, Kournikova to Code Red, and from Nimda to last night's announcement of the War Vote virus, the need for security tools to protect servers and workstations has never been greater.

The security vulnerabilities that allowed this year's viruses and worms to infect servers and workstations all had fixes available before any of them came into existence, meaning that if the infected workstations and servers had been updated with the appropriate patches, they would not have been infected. The problem that network administrators responsible for plugging security holes face is that they don't have the resources to update machines adequately and in a timely manner.

With the increasing demands being placed on network administrators, St. Bernard Software has developed an IT Management tool, UpdateEXPERT, which protects their systems from hackers exploiting well publicized holes. UpdateEXPERT proactively deploys the most recent software patches to their organization's workstations and servers.

The process begins with UpdateEXPERT taking inventory of networked machines and identifying installed OS and application updates. Then, the user can conduct research on updates by category through direct access to relevant Knowledgebase articles. UpdateEXPERT deploys virtually any new and current service packs and hotfixes needed to protect servers and workstations from security vulnerabilities. UpdateEXPERT then validates the selected updates, thus administrators control the software distribution process.

"We've seen what damage worms and other security threats have done to organizations' servers and workstations," said John Jones, president of St. Bernard Software. "Now with the recent FBI warnings, it has become even more critical and essential to maintain software on all networked systems. UpdateEXPERT is designed so that administrators can prevent threats to their systems instead of continuing to react to them."

UpdateEXPERT provides value-added information about software updates for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) NT/2000/XP, Terminal Server, IIS, SQL Server, Exchange, Internet Explorer, Media Player, Windows Media Services and NetMeeting(R), Office and Outlook.

About St. Bernard Software

Headquartered in San Diego, St. Bernard Software is a global provider of Internet and corporate network infrastructure management solutions. The company's product lines solve critical issues within the system storage, change and configuration, and Internet access management markets. St. Bernard Software is recognized as the market-leader in open file technology with its flagship product, Open File Manager(TM), and has since expanded its technology to include UpdateEXPERT(TM) and iPrism(TM). UpdateEXPERT is an automated inventory, research, deployment and validation tool which provides administrators the power they need to effectively manage the process of updating systems with service packs and hotfixes. iPrism is an Internet filtering appliance that helps organizations manage inappropriate Internet surfing during business hours. iPrism improves employee productivity, conserves bandwidth and reduces exposure to legal risks.

St. Bernard Software is included in the year 2001 "Software 500," Software Magazine's 19th annual ranking of the world's largest software and services suppliers.

St. Bernard Software products are sold and supported through a variety of partners worldwide. For more information call 800/782-3762 or visit www.stbernard.com. The Web site also includes free trials of all products.

St. Bernard Software, UpdateEXPERT and Open File Manager are trademarks of St. Bernard Software, Inc. iPrism is a trademark of Internet Products Inc. Internet Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Bernard Software, Inc. All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.