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F5 Provides State Government Agency with Secure Access to Sensitive Applications and Data

FirePass® SSL VPN product helps organization meet stringent federal security and policy requirements while maintaining goal of zero security events

SEATTLE, March 26, 2007 - F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking, today announced that the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) employs F5's FirePass SSL VPN product to ensure its client, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), meets federal security requirements. With FirePass, 8,000 state and local law enforcement employees can readily gain secure remote access to government applications using PCs, from any location.

To meet federal requirements, GBI must provide law enforcement officers with secure access to criminal justice databases from remote locations. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, strong endpoint security capabilities on the remote client are needed to prevent unauthorized or unsecured network connections. Furthermore, state and federal compliance mandates varying levels of data encryption and access control for different agencies and users, requiring highly granular user access policies.

"We deal with very sensitive data that includes driver license and criminal history information," said Bob Grafals, Director of Solutions Development for GTA. "One of our ultimate goals for the GBI project was to keep this data secure while experiencing zero security events. The ability to control who has access to what data and when, with minimal configuration or administration adjustments on our end, is helping us exceed our stringent security requirements in an efficient manner."

Using F5's FirePass product, GTA can deliver controlled access to government applications by granting certain users access to specific data and sites, and automatically re-routing infected or non-compliant systems to a separate site for updates. In addition to the added security, this also makes the use and administration of remote access much easier.

"GTA's mission is to provide secure, reliable technology services and solutions to state agencies," said Ameet Dhillon, Director of Product Management at F5. "FirePass continues to help GTA fulfill its mission by enabling state employees to connect securely from home or on the road, while increasing productivity without compromising security."

For this case study and others go to: http://www.f5.com/solution-center/case-studies/

About the Georgia Technology Authority

GTA's purpose is to deliver secure, reliable technology services and solutions, and provide guidance and oversight that lead to sound decisions for Georgia government.

GTA's specific responsibilities are to:

  • Establish the enterprise architecture for the state to bring interoperability in a cost-effective manner
  • Establish policies and standards derived from the enterprise architecture for technology and security
  • Modernize and operate the state's data center and telecommunications network
  • Develop and manage the state's portal to provide government information and services
  • Promote interoperability of state systems through the portal, project management and procurement oversight
  • Approve the purchase of technology resources consistent with established policies and standards
  • Oversee IT projects costing more than $1 million to prevent waste and delay
  • Facilitate statewide strategic planning to build a technology-enabled government

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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