OPSWAT AND SHAVLIK TECHNOLOGIES, LLC ANNOUNCE OEM AGREEMENT - PROVIDE NEW POLICY-BASED REMOTE ACCESS SECURITY SOLUTION

OPSWAT rolls out OPSTOP SecurePatch as first deliverable of OEM agreement

San Francisco and St. Paul, Minn (PRWEB) December 26, 2003 --OPSWAT, Inc. (www.opswat.com), a leading provider of policy-based endpoint security and connectivity solutions for the remote access market, and Shavlik Technologies, LLC (www.shavlik.com), a leading security software and services provider, have announced the signing of an OEM and co-marketing agreement.

The agreement is followed by the immediate release of OPSWATs OPSTOP SecurePatch, an innovative security solution for enterprises that allows IT administrators to create and enforce policies guaranteeing that only well-patched hosts can gain remote access to networks. OPSTOP SecurePatch allows IT administrators to define an exact list of the required patches or use an automatically updated list (from, e.g., Microsoft) to determine if a remote host can connect to the network.

When a remote host attempts to create a VPN tunnel, it is scanned to assess its conformance to the policy. If it conforms to the policy, the VPN gateway allows the tunnel to be completed. If the host does not, the user is referred to the appropriate patch server to download the required patches.

OPSTOP SecurePatch leverages the Shavlik HFNetChk scanning engine and Shavliks HFNetChkPro patch management solution; the industry standard for security patch management. HFNetChkPro has more than two million seats in use today and is used worldwide by thousands of corporations, educational institutions, government agencies and other businesses. "Being able to manage remote access securely is increasingly important," said Benny Czarny, OPSWATs founder and CEO. The combination of OPSWAT and Shavlik security technologies now gives IT administrators better control over the security of remote machines accessing the network."

The current version of OPSTOP SecurePatch supports Check Points VPN-1 SecureClient. Subsequent versions of OPSTOP SecurePatch will support other market leading remote access VPN solutions.

The policy enforcement market is really starting to gain momentum as companies look to secure access to networks," said Michael K. Thomas, vice president, products of Shavlik Technologies. Partnering with OPSWAT to provide this type of security is a natural fit and will offer patch policy enforcement to millions of Check Point users worldwide."

About OPSWAT
OPSWAT is a leading provider of policy-based endpoint security and connectivity solutions for the remote access market. Our products empower corporations to create, enforce, and automatically promote conformance to policies restricting network access to well-configured endpoints. Policies cover hardware configuration and authenticity, device management, anti-virus, personal firewall, IE and windows security settings, patches and hotfixes, and others. OPSWAT supports products of leading security vendors and promotes best-of-breed solutions to its customers. OPSWAT is based in San Francisco, CA and has offices in Hertzelia, Israel. For further information, OPSWAT can be reached at 415-543-1534, general@opswat.com or on the Web at www.opswat.com.

About Shavlik Technologies, LLC
Shavlik Technologies is a leading security products and services firm headquartered in Roseville, Minn. The company helps information technology managers and administrators manage computer systems security, including assessment, security scanning and remediation of security vulnerabilities due to missing patches, weak accounts and passwords. Shavlik products including HFNetChkPro; the industry standard for security patch management, and EnterpriseInspector; a network inspection tool, are used worldwide by thousands of corporations, educational institutions, government agencies and other businesses. Shavlik also has a premier security services group that provides patch management strategy and implementation services. Microsoft MBSA was developed for Microsoft by Shavlik Technologies, LLC.

For further information, Shavlik can be reached at 800-690-6911, info@shavlik.com or www.shavlik.com.
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Media Contacts:
Amy Fisher
Shavlik Technologies
(612) 455-1773 direct
(612) 805-5707 cell
amy.fisher@shavlik.com
Jonathan Lebowitsch
OPSWAT, Inc.
(415) 543-1534
(415)336-5436 mobile
yoni@opswat.com