McAfee Launches Enterprise SecureCast; First to Deliver Corporate Software Via Internet Push Technology

McAfee and BackWeb Pioneer New Software Distribution Channel

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. (February 28, 1997) -- McAfee (Nasdaq: MCAF) today began beta testing Enterprise SecureCast, the world's first corporate electronic software distribution service to utilize "push" technology. Enterprise SecureCast follows McAfee's January launch of Home SecureCast, which is targeted at home and small office customers of McAfee's best-selling VirusScan anti-virus software. The launch of Home SecureCast has already been a resounding success, attracting over 10,000 registered subscribers in under 30 days.

Enterprise SecureCast is uniquely optimized to address the enterprise anti-virus security requirements of network managers in large Fortune 1000 corporations and government institutions. The service utilizes push technology from BackWeb Technologies of San Jose, Calif., to establish a broadcast channel for delivering VirusScan software, virus signature updates, enterprise-enabled installation scripts, Virus Information Library updates, news alerts, CERT and CIAC security advisories, white papers, and technical notes. Enterprise SecureCast utilizes BackWeb's new HTTP client which allows SecureCast to perform authenticated traversal through corporate firewalls.

"Push technology will dramatically alter the way large corporations and government institutions purchase and support their software," said Bill Larson, McAfee's president, chairman and CEO. "McAfee is the only vendor to offer customers timely global distribution of multiple products in multiple languages for multiple platforms. With 200 new viruses discovered each month, timely VirusScan updates translate directly into superior protection."

McAfee partnered with BackWeb after conducting a thorough evaluation of twelve competing push technology alternatives. McAfee believes BackWeb's technology is the most mature, proven, and flexible. The home-oriented SecureCast capability is also embedded with the new VirusScan 3.0 CD-ROM, which is now available through retail distribution at no additional charge.

"Enterprise SecureCast is the first to make the promise of Internet application deployment a reality for the enterprise, without McAfee having to rearchitect its software," said Eli Barkat, CEO of BackWeb.

How Enterprise SecureCast Works
Applications and updates are automatically downloaded to network administrators whenever they are connected to the Internet. Unlike passive forms of traditional online software distribution, in which computer users manually download software with their web browser, BackWeb's Push technology automatically delivers software to corporate network administrators without manual intervention.

McAfee's Enterprise SecureCast service is free to any customer of McAfee's Security Management Enterprise Support service. Customers can subscribe to the Enterprise SecureCast service by visiting McAfee's web site at www.mcafee.com. To subscribe, customers answer a short series of simple questions, specifying which operating system versions (i.e. DOS, OS/2, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows NT, Macintosh) and which language version (i.e. English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese) of McAfee's anti-virus products that they need. Next, customers will download the Enterprise SecureCast BackWeb client. Once the client is installed, the customer is pre-registered to the Enterprise SecureCast channel. The first InfoPak, or package of content, that the customer will receive is a "Welcome" InfoPak that demonstrates the connection to the channel is working. When activated, the Enterprise SecureCast client contacts the McAfee BackWeb server, checks to see if any InfoPaks are waiting to be delivered, and conducts the download.

Enterprise SecureCast helps network managers protect their networks from the increasing virus threat. Because anti-virus researchers at McAfee's Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team (AVERT) discover up to two hundred new viruses each month, McAfee publishes monthly virus signature updates. Thanks to BackWeb's push technology, Enterprise SecureCast customers can now receive these updates within minutes or hours of the updates being posted on McAfee's Web site. Other anti-virus software vendors require their users to manually initiate anti-virus signature file downloads.

Availability
The Enterprise SecureCast beta program is now available from McAfee's web site. A prerequisite to the plan is a subscription to McAfee's NetShield anti-virus software or to McAfee's Security Management Enterprise Support plan. McAfee's Security Management Enterprise Support plan is a fee-based service which provides corporate and government customers with direct pager access to an assigned senior enterprise support analyst at McAfee. This month, Home SecureCast agents will be bundled in all retail boxes of VirusScan for Windows 95. Beta testing of Enterprise SecureCast is expected to be complete by March 30.

About McAfee
Founded in 1989, McAfee is a leading worldwide vendor of Network Security and Management products for enterprise networks. The Company is also a leader in Internet and Web-based electronic software distribution. McAfee is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and can be reached by phone at (408) 988-3832 or by fax at (408) 970-9727. McAfee's Web address is www.mcafee.com.

About BackWeb Technologies
BackWeb Technologies is a leading offline Web software company. BackWeb extends the value of technology investments by offering mobile and remote employees offline access to portals, intranets and other Web-based applications and content. The company's products reduce network costs and improve the productivity of an increasingly mobile workforce. At the core of BackWeb's products is its patented Polite® synchronization technology that can distribute large amounts of data even over narrow bandwidth connections. BackWeb® customers include market leaders such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor, Eastman Kodak, GE Healthcare, Guidant, HP, KLA Tencor, Lam Research, Pfizer and more than one hundred other companies. BackWeb also has strategic reseller alliances with software industry leaders: Plumtree, SAP and IBM. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel. For more information, visit www.backweb.com or call (800) 863-0100.

Statements in this news release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities laws, including statements of beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of BackWeb software to allow customers to gain mobile, disconnected use of their portals and help increase field sales and field service productivity, the integration of BackWeb software with BEA products will help developers extend portal applications for offline use without changing the way they work, and the ability of the resulting applications to help field sales and service organizations realize maximum productivity, cost savings, and process acceleration gains while disconnected from the network. Actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include unforeseen technological issues related to use of the BackWeb software, deployment issues related to implementation, unforeseen software errors, competitive factors and business and expense factors that may affect the perceived efficiencies from use of BackWeb's products, and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in BackWeb's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BackWeb assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.