Astaro Security Gateway Firewall in Evaluation for Common Criteria Certification

Certifies International Security Requirements for Government and Enterprise Customers.

BURLINGTON, Mass., November 30, 2005 - Astaro Corporation today announced that the company's Astaro Security Gateway Firewall has entered the second phase of the Common Criteria certification process.

Common Criteria for IT Security Evaluation (CC), also known as ISO standard 15408, was developed by the national security organizations of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and The Netherlands. It provides a broad range of evaluation criteria for many types of IT security products. Other countries around the globe also accept the standard.

After receiving first approval from the German Federal Office for Information Security BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik), Astaro has now entered the evaluation phase in order to prove that their products and processes conform to standards set by the International Standards Organization. The atsec evaluation lab, headquartered in Munich, Germany, will conduct detailed evaluations of Astaro's firewall and their internal processes for product development, testing, configuration, delivery, operation and documentation.

"Large enterprises, healthcare and government agencies demand the strictest of security standards," said Jan Hichert, CEO of Astaro. "Astaro's products have already received firewall certifications from ICSAlabs in 2004 and, after an intensive preparation phase, are now ready to prove that they also meet the stringent requirements of the Common Criteria Standard."

The evaluation status of Astaro Security Gateway and other products certified by the BSI can be examined at: http://www.bsi.bund.de/zertifiz/zert/aktuell.htm.

About Astaro's Products
Astaro develops a complete line of network security products - Astaro Security Gateway software and an Astaro Security Gateway line of appliances. All Astaro products provide email security, web security, and network security with up to nine critical security applications fully integrated on a single management platform, including:

Email Security

• Virus Protection for Email – catches viruses in conventional (SMTP and POP3) emails and attachments.
• Spam Protection – uses nine different techniques to filter out spam and without stopping legitimate emails.
• Phishing Protection –blocks emails from criminals trying to trick users into revealing confidential information.

Web Security

• Spyware Protection – detects and blocks spyware infection attempts as well as spyware communication from already infected systems
• Virus Protection for the Web – defends computers from virus infections from web downloads and web-based emails.
• Content Filtering (Surf Protection) – can block Internet access to 60 categories of web sites.

Network Security

• Firewall – guards Internet communications traffic in and out of the organization with stateful packet inspection and application-level proxies.
• Intrusion Protection – detects and blocks probes and application-based attacks using heuristics, anomaly detection, and pattern-based techniques.
• Virtual Private Network Gateway – assures secure communications with remote offices, "road warriors," and telecommuters.

About Astaro - www.astaro.com
Astaro develops a complete line of network security products including the Astaro Security Gateway software and Astaro Security Gateway line of security appliances. All Astaro products offer nine critical security applications in three categories - Web Security, Email Security and Network Security - fully integrated on a single management platform.

The company is headquartered in Burlington, Mass. and with facilities in Karlsruhe, Germany. Astaro's software has won numerous industry awards, and is protecting over 25,000 networks in 60 countries, including such organizations as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Los Alamos National Labs, Stanford University and Watsco, Inc. Astaro products are distributed by a worldwide network of 350 solutions partners who offer local support and services.