Press Release

POSTINI ANNUAL COMMUNICATIONS INTELLIGENCE REPORT SHOWS SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE TOP COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS' CONCERNS

Study Predicts Increased Bot-Net Activity, Unprecedented Volume of Email Attacks, Heightened Regulatory Climate and Increasing Litigation Risk in 2007

SAN CARLOS, CA, January 29, 2007 — Postini, the global leader in on-demand communications security and compliance solutions for email, instant messaging and the web, today released findings from its annual study reflecting the input of hundreds of business communications professionals and executives from around the world, revealing significant trends and predictions for the industry in the new year.

The findings reveal two clear conclusions for 2007. First, the resurgence of "bot-nets" has fundamentally shifted the dynamics of communications security, and today threatens the viability of email as a productive business tool. This has created overwhelming expectations among communications professionals worldwide that the threat landscape will get even worse in 2007. Second, the heightened regulatory climate and increasing litigation risk pose dramatic financial, business and technical challenges for communications compliance that the majority of companies are unprepared to deal with.

The report reveals a renewed and dramatic concern over exploding levels of spam and viruses, with 71percent of respondents indicating that communications security concerns are their top issues for 2007. Fully 91 percent of communications professionals surveyed believe that spam will continue to increase in 2007, on top of already record levels exiting 2006.

Communications compliance is also top of mind for global communications professionals. Fifty-one percent said their top priority is to develop a strategy to comply with regulations for e-discovery in connection with possible litigation and in response to new legislation such as the recently revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by deploying message archiving solutions. Thirty-nine percent indicated a broad priority of communications compliance as their top strategic initiative in 2007.

Strikingly, fewer than one in four of the professionals surveyed believe they can manage their current communications policies. The exploding number of communications channels, including email, instant messaging, web 2.0, mobile computing and voice over IP (VoIP), coupled with increased threats and heightened compliance risks is clearly causing these professionals to feel like their communications channels are getting out of control.

Serving more than 36,000 businesses worldwide, Postini is in a unique position to observe and interpret business communications threats, risks and activity on a global scale. The new Postini 2007 communications intelligence report combines primary research based on detailed information culled from hundreds of billions of messages passing through Postini's global secure data centers. In addition, the company's annual survey of more than 450 business communication professionals and executives helps to provide insights into major communications security and compliance issues and concerns for the coming year.

The report describes significant emerging and renewed communications security challenges:

• Increasingly sophisticated and well resourced malefactors have entered the communications security arena, their motive is profit, and they are making money.
• The most significant development of 2006 was the explosive growth in bot-nets, centrally controlled networks of hijacked personal computers. More than one million internet addresses around the world are now coordinating attacks every day.
• 2006 saw a 147 percent increase in spam rates and a December spike in spam to a record of 94 percent of all email.
• Virus outbreaks are a significant threat, with the "Happy New Year!" worm generating 20 times the average daily virus volume at the end of 2006. The viruses and worms in 2007 will be designed to steal personal information and add infected computers to the bot-nets.

The report also details the complexities of communications compliance that professionals around the world are struggling with:

• Nearly all types of electronic communications are now discoverable in legal action, with strict sanctions for failing to produce these records when required by law to do so.
• Personal and consumer information must be secured, and privacy is increasingly protected by legislation.
• In the United States, the revised Federal Rules for Civil Procedure went into effect on December 1, 2006, specifying new rules and processes for the production of electronically stored information, which many companies do not yet have a strategy to comply with.
• New channels of communication such as instant messaging and Web 2.0 are typically unmanaged and uncontrolled, representing a significant risk to businesses.

"2007 clearly presents an increasingly challenging communications security and compliance landscape for businesses to navigate," said Daniel Druker, executive vice president of marketing at Postini. "Companies worldwide are feeling the weight of more sophisticated, intense, and malicious attacks combined with a pressing need to meet compliance and security mandates. Postini's 2007 communications intelligence survey shows many don't feel prepared and they expect things to get even worse."

Messaging Policies Lagging
According to the survey, 91 percent of business communications professionals believe that spam volumes will continue to increase in 2007 on top of already record levels, and two-thirds also stated that other forms of communications such as instant messaging, VoIP, and text messaging are becoming as important in terms of management, protection and compliance as their organizations' email communications. More than half of respondents either didn't know or weren't sure whether their enterprises had policies or procedures in place to enforce proper communications compliance practices. In order to manage increasing demands, reduce threats and decrease risks in the coming year, 43 percent of survey participants expect to spend more on business communications solutions in 2007, and only 7 percent will spend less.

Behind in E-Discovery
Nearly 80 percent of communications professionals responding to the survey indicated that compliance and governance was important, very important, or extremely important to the business communications of their organizations. Yet, more than half of all respondents indicated that they do not have a policy to manage the e-discovery process – a key component of compliance that moved to the forefront of management awareness at the end of 2006 with certain revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. As a result, the report predicts that organizations will increasingly start setting up standard processes for how to manage, protect, discover and produce electronically stored information – a process that must be transparent and repeatable and that operates with integrity and rigor.

2007 Predictions
The Postini 2007 Communications Intelligence report combines quantitative analysis from Postini's global data centers with expertise from more than 450 global communications professionals to predict:

1. Bot-net activity will continue to increase in 2007, with waves of virus and worms attempting to hijack ever larger networks of personal computers, and driving spam to record levels.
2. Email will be under unprecedented attack in 2007, so stopping spam and keeping email productive will be a front burner issue for business executives.
3. 2007 will be an explosive year for communications compliance initiatives, including the mandate to archive email, instant messages and web 2.0 content such as blogs as legally discoverable documents that must be retained, discovered and produced on demand.
4. 2007 will see an uptake in the use of encryption designed to ensure that confidential and private information is protected from eavesdropping, theft, and tampering. Protection of private consumer information will continue to become more regulated, and businesses will take steps to ensure they comply with this mandate.
5. In 2007, companies will begin to realize that web 2.0 is a bi-directional communication tool just like email and instant messaging and thus will be compelled to ensure the security, management and compliance of their employees' use of these technologies just like all other channels of communications.

For more details on Postini statistics and its annual survey of business communication professionals, go to "2007 Postini Communications Intelligence Report," at www.postini.com/2007report.

About Postini
Postini is the global leader in on-demand communications security, compliance and productivity solutions for email, instant messaging and the web. Postini offers an award-winning suite of on-demand services for electronic communications, including protection from viruses, spam, phishing, fraud and other attacks, secure messaging, and archiving, discovery and production of electronic messages. The company's powerful on-demand infrastructure integrates with customers' environments, providing security, compliance and productivity solutions for more companies than any other provider in the world. Postini's services are designed to protect organizations from a wide range of threats, reduce compliance and legal risks, ensure reliable communications, and enable the intelligent management and enforcement of enterprise policies that protect companies' intellectual property, reputations and business relationships. For more information please contact Postini at info@postini.com or visit http://www.postini.com.