ISS Incorporates Blade’s Informer Technology in Testing Programs

Redwood City, California – 10th October 2003- Blade Software, the pioneer in Security Compliance solutions, today announced that Internet Security Systems (ISS) (NASDAQ: ISSX), a worldwide leader in enterprise security products and services, has joined Blade’s Informer Vendor Alliance.

ISS uses Blade Software’s Informer Technology(tm) in its product testing programs. Blade Software is the first vendor to create tools specifically designed to verify Security Compliance. Blade tests the design, deployment and configuration of intrusion detection/protection systems and firewalls by injecting realistic yet harmless attack traffic into a production environment. The Informer suite of products transmits two-way, stateful network traffic that quickly verifies policy enforcement and product performance.

“As a global leader in enterprise protection, ISS strives to deliver the most accurate, high-quality protection solutions in the industry,” said Christopher Klaus, founder and chief technology officer of Internet Security Systems. “Blade Software, with its innovative IDS Informer, enhances our product testing programs by giving our engineers extremely powerful yet easy-to-use tool.” The Informer suite currently contains two products: IDS Informer(tm) and Firewall Informer(tm). IDS Informer transmits pre-defined attack traffic past intrusion detection/protection systems, causing them to trigger an event. Creating realistic yet harmless attacks with IDS Informer’s comprehensive attack library allows users to evaluate their IDS’ attack detection and reaction capabilities, as well as the usability of the management application. Firewall Informer enables users to transmit pre-defined traffic through a firewall, which test a firewall’s policy two-way enforcement capabilities. Firewall Informer can test millions of different combinations of ports, protocols and IP addresses, ensuring 100% operational accuracy of the firewall. The Informer Vendor Alliance has two objectives: First, to benefit partners by enabling them to deploy Informer products in their development labs for product testing as well as their sales team for product demonstrations. Second, to benefit end-users by synchronizing product updates from Alliance members with Informer suite updates from Blade, enabling end-users to test vendor updates immediately.

“Blade Software is very excited to be working closely with market leader Internet Security Systems,” said Brian Laing, co-founder and chief technical officer of Blade Software. “ISS and its customers will benefit from this alliance, as IDS Informer will be an effective development tool for ISS, improving product performance and reducing risk to the enterprise. ”

About Internet Security Systems, Inc.
Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS) (NASDAQ: ISSX) is a world leader Dynamic Threat Protection(tm) products and services that protect critical information assets from an ever-changing spectrum of threats and misuse. Solutions from Internet Security Systems dynamically detect, prevent and respond to sophisticated threats to networks, servers and desktops. Services include 24/7 system monitoring, emergency response and access to the X-Force, Internet Security Systems’ renowned research and development team. Internet Security Systems is the trusted security provider for more than 11,000 corporate customers, including all of the Fortune 50, the top 10 largest U.S. securities firms, 10 of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and major agencies

and departments within U.S. local, state and federal governments. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Internet Security Systems has additional operations throughout the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information,

visit the Internet Security Systems Web site at www.iss.net or call 888-901-7477.

About Blade Software, Inc.
Blade Software (www.blade-software.com) was founded in 2001 specifically to address the lack of sophisticated tools for enterprises to comprehensively test their network security systems. Blade Software pioneered security compliance solutions that allow audit, security and network professionals to quickly and easily verify the configuration and deployment of their security systems. IDS Informer(tm) and Firewall Informer(tm) inject stateful, realistic yet harmless attacks into a production environment to verify policy compliance and product performance. The Informer suite of products ensures the integrity of enterprise network security defences, thus reducing risk, delivering increased ROI and maintaining business continuity.

IDS Informer and Firewall Informer are trademarks of Blade Software, Inc. Dynamic Threat Protection is a trademark of Internet Security Systems, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks are property of their respective owners.

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