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F5's FirePass 4100 SSL VPN Product Earns High Marks from Information Security Magazine

A leading security publication applauds F5's FirePass product for its Visual Policy Editor, best management interface, and strong endpoint security in a comparative review of secure remote access products

SEATTLE, September 13, 2006 - F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking, today announced the results of its FirePass® 4100 product review in Information Security magazine's competitive analysis of enterprise-class SSL VPN solutions. The review praised the FirePass product for a number of key advantages including:

  • Functionality and menu layouts; F5's administrative interface was rated the best of all products tested
  • Sophisticated endpoint checking routines and an impressive list of supported antivirus programs
  • F5's Visual Policy Editor, providing flexible policy control and an intuitive user interface

Above all, the review extolled the FirePass product's ease of use and policy control capabilities. "We especially liked the ability of F5 to specify the particular menu choices each admin can use. Its Administrative Realms page offers complete granularity when it comes to assigning particular admin rights to different subsets of the overall functionality," noted Information Security. The review called out the FirePass product's intelligent Visual Policy Editor, "which works like a flowchart, and adds features such as the ability to check for particular IE versions and the presence of a Google Desktop indexing engine."

The review also credited the FirePass product's endpoint security capabilities, which support over 100 different versions of antivirus and firewall solutions. The FirePass product also enables enterprises to have multiple concurrent administrators-a feature which resonated with the judges-along with the functionality of four gigabit ports that can handle separate networks, and the ability to cluster or offload SSL processing.

"We are thrilled that Information Security continues to recognize the key differentiators of our FirePass product that make it an ideal enterprise-class SSL VPN solution," said Ameet Dhillon, Director of Product Management at F5. "Ease of use and comprehensive security capabilities are paramount for a successful deployment and we will continue to raise the standard in these respects."

About the Information Security Magazine Review

Information Security invited 17 SSL VPN vendors to apply for consideration for testing, and selected the five best responses based on a combination of pre-eminence in the security market and our judgment about features and the ability to support a large, complex network. The products were tested in a purpose-built lab on the Stanford University campus in California, with the help of the backbone networking group that runs the main university data center and operates the major network infrastructure on campus. The products were analyzed and graded on their capabilities for enterprise management and control, client support, applications support, and authentication and access control.

About the FirePass Controller

The FirePass product is the industry's first SSL VPN solution that provides complete cross-platform support and the broadest application access, including web hosts, client-server applications, and legacy hosts. Unlike IPsec VPN products that require the installation of special client software, the FirePass solution offers a clientless SSL VPN service that leverages any standard browser interface. It also offers the only open API (Application Programming Interface) and SDK (Software Developer's Kit) that enables 3rd party application vendors to build seamless, secure remote access into their client applications. For more information, go to www.f5.com/products/firepass/.

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks is the global leader in Application Delivery Networking. F5 provides solutions that make applications secure, fast and available for everyone, helping organizations get the most out of their investment. By adding intelligence and manageability into the network to offload applications, F5 optimizes applications and allows them to work faster and consume fewer resources. F5's extensible architecture intelligently integrates application optimization, protects the application and the network, and delivers application reliability-all on one universal platform. Over 10,000 organizations and service providers worldwide trust F5 to keep their applications running. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington with offices worldwide. For more information, go to www.f5.com.

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Press Contacts
Alane Moran
F5 Networks, Inc
(206) 272-6850
a.moran@f5.com		 Holly Hagerman
Connect Public Relations
(801) 373-7888
hollyh@connectpr.com

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