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AT&T Delivers Flagship Cybersecurity Services to Small and Midsize Businesses


WEBWIRE

Helps Prevent Malicious Traffic and Cyber Attacks from Wreaking Havoc on Networks

Bedminster, New Jersey, September 6, 2006, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) announced today that it is offering two flagship, network-based security services — AT&T Internet ProtectSM and AT&T Intrusion Prevention Service — to small and midsize businesses. Available today, the services offer these businesses the same best-in-class network protection that is available to large enterprise users.

Now businesses of all sizes can better protect their communications networks from the potentially devastating effects of worms, viruses and distributed denial-of-services attacks by leveraging the power of AT&T’s predictive intrusion-alerting services, which have the added benefit of reducing the complexity and cost of managing customers’ cybersecurity programs.

AT&T Internet Protect and AT&T Intrusion Prevention Service form the cornerstone of AT&T’s defense-in-depth strategy, implementing successive layers of defense to help detect and block cyberattacks both at the network’s edge as well as inside the company’s local area network. AT&T believes that its more than 2 million small and midsize business customers will want the same convenience and cost-effective benefits that enterprise customers receive by leveraging the global assets of AT&T into their network security plans. What’s more, providing its security services to a broader base of businesses will position AT&T to capitalize on the growing managed security services market, which the Yankee Group estimates will reach more than $4 billion in 2006, growing to $6.8 billion globally by 2010.

By deploying early identification and mitigation capabilities for cyberattacks within its global Internet Protocol (IP) network, AT&T may be able to help prevent these attacks from proliferating and infiltrating a company’s information technology infrastructure — networks, servers, PCs, applications and end-user devices. As a result, these services can assist in preventing malicious traffic from wreaking havoc on a customer’s network.

“Businesses of all sizes are searching for ways to detect and neutralize threats to their critical business data,” said William Archer, AT&T vice president of product management. "AT&T Internet Protect and AT&T Intrusion Prevention Service contain threats in the network interior where perimeter solutions can’t, turning the network itself into a front-line security device.

“By expanding the reach of these services to broader markets, we are enabling more businesses to take advantage of the most potent tools against the kind of attacks that have crippled entire networks and brought businesses to a halt,” Archer added.

In a recent nationwide survey of businesses sponsored by AT&T, 28 percent of companies cited cybersecurity as a top concern, while 17 percent said they did not include cybersecurity at all in their overall business continuity plans. The annual AT&T survey gauged businesses’ level of preparedness for handling interruptions caused by natural disasters or cyberattacks. Among those companies surveyed with cybersecurity plans, 78 percent singled out viruses and worms as their biggest concern.

AT&T Internet Protect uses AT&T’s IP backbone as a proxy of general Internet traffic to help predict and profile known and developing malicious activities. It provides network managers with essential security information, such as immediate network threats, recent patch releases and other security “need-to-know” facts. Additionally, AT&T Internet Protect’s security portal not only notifies customers of critical malicious activity, but also recommends an immediate course of action.

AT&T Internet Protect customers also receive access to AT&T Internet Security News Network (AT&T ISNN), a first-of-its-kind 24/7 video webcast that provides businesses with critical security news and information, helping them to stay abreast of the latest security issues and remain one step ahead of malicious activities proliferating on the Internet.

The news network delivers up-to-date information from security experts and forensic analysts directly to subscribers’ desktops. AT&T ISNN also provides live emergency broadcasts as security attacks occur, keeping customers informed.

AT&T Intrusion Prevention Service is a fully managed security solution featuring tools to defend internal networks. It can help detect, contain, and neutralize known or developing threats from hackers, viruses and worms that attack a company’s network.

AT&T Intrusion Prevention Service uses a security device designed to internally monitor and defend a company’s network. When installed on a local area network, this device can monitor the behavior of IP traffic on the business’s network rather than searching a database for known signatures of worms and viruses. The device is designed to verify whether traffic packets are malicious and then to block the suspect traffic from the origination points to help prevent the spread of the worm or virus to the customer’s network.

Note: This AT&T release and other news announcements are available as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. is one of the world’s largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high speed DSL Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with 57.3 million wireless customers. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and AT&T products and services is available at www.att.com.

© 2006 AT&T Knowledge Ventures. All rights reserved. Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products and services under the AT&T brand.



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