PRESS RELEASE -- Tempest Software, a provider of technology and products that facilitate secure, standards-based information exchange over the Internet, today announced it is shipping Version 2 of SiteShield, the new "plug and play" software solution to secure websites.

SiteShield protects all applications, data and information assets on a web server by keeping it securely behind a firewall closed to all incoming traffic. SiteShield addresses the need for e-business openness while protecting companies against potentially embarrassing and destructive hacking and security lapses.

By establishing a persistent encrypted outbound connection through the firewall, SiteShield allows companies to place their web server safely behind the firewall that they then configure to deny all inbound connections. This enables them to authorize partners, suppliers, customers and employees controlled access to data and information, without the firewall holes normally required for such web-based communication. SiteShield functions much like a proxy server, distributing incoming traffic across multiple web servers which can run on different machines as needed to provide fail-over support and maximum scalability. Engineered for optimal performance, easy integration with firewalls, web and proxy servers, SiteShield is easy to install and implement, and works with all third party web servers. The product requires no change whatever to application code.

Awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,088,796 in July 2000 for the unique security features in its technology and products, Tempest Software raises the standards of performance in Internet enterprise application exchange both within and across corporate boundaries, allowing companies to build the network infrastructure necessary to support mature e-business communication. SiteShield enables companies to harness the full potential of the web to maximize value chain efficiency, realizing rapid return on investment and increased revenue.

How SiteShield Works
SiteShield has two components: the SiteShield Server and the SiteShield Bridge. The SiteShield Server is installed in front of the enterprise domain firewall. The SiteShield Bridge is installed with the website servers safely behind the firewall, in the private enterprise network. The SiteShield Bridge opens a persistent outbound connection through the firewall to the SiteShield Server. All communication can be encrypted using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) V. 3.0 technology provided with SiteShield. Partners connecting from a browser are actually connecting to the SiteShield Server. SiteShield sees the user requests and passes them to the SiteShield Bridge component, which in turn emulates a web browser and transmits the user requests for execution on the web server. Enterprise application and data assets are now protected from unauthorized access. User IDs, account numbers, customer financial and credit information, database connections and SQL commands are no longer vulnerable.

SiteShield supports all enterprise web servers, including Apache.

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