Data Fellows Forges Strategic Alliance with Top Anti-Virus Development Company

Global leader strengthens team by joining with other leading anti-virus technology companies

Helsinki, Finland/San Jose, Calif. October 1, 1997--Data Fellows, the European developer of F-PROT Professional, has formed an exclusive, strategic alliance with another superior anti-virus technology team: the AVP development team led by Eugene Kaspersky. Together these companies combine the best minds in the anti-virus world and are the foundation of the new revolutionary F-Secure Anti-Virus CounterSign™ Technology from Data Fellows. This new CounterSign Technology allows F-Secure Anti-Virus to be the first line of anti-virus software to combine multiple virus scanning engines into a single framework by using both the F-PROT and AVP anti-virus engines simultaneously.

"Because the number of viruses in the world is growing at such an alarming rate, it is nearly impossible for any single anti-virus product to detect and protect against this threat," said Risto Siilasmaa, CEO and Managing Director of Data Fellows, LTD. "With our new CounterSign™ technology and this combination of two superior anti-virus engines such as F-PROT and AVP, the detection rates of the two engines approaches 100% and the likelihood a virus would go undetected is less than ever before."

Data Fellows, a technology leader, has a long history of industry firsts. In 1991 Data Fellows brought the first heuristics scanner to market with FRISK Software International. Building on this work, Data Fellows and FRISK have combined their development efforts for seven years. This long and prosperous relationship has produced an award-winning product line with a prestigious customer base.

In 1993, Data Fellows developed the first anti-virus network management framework. In 1995, the company produced the first real-time scanner for Windows. In 1997, Data Fellows introduced F-Secure Anti-Virus CounterSign™ technology to answer the challenges of detecting viruses in the corporate environment.

Under this new F-Secure Anti-Virus CounterSign™ product umbrella, cooperation with the FRISK development team is going ahead at full steam to finish the next generation of F-PROT engine technology. F-PROT has been used by thousands of organizations since 1989, and FRISK is recognized worldwide as one of the anti-virus pioneers. FRISK Software, led by Fridrik Skulason, is a founding member of the Computer Anti-Virus Research Organization (CARO), and has long been regarded as a leading expert in the field.

Similarly, with the addition of the AVP development team, Data Fellows has worldwide, exclusive access to the AVP anti-virus scanning technology. Among AVP’s list of accomplishments is the AVP AntiViral Toolkit Pro, a product that has received numerous honors, including an "Excellent Scanner" rating by the University of Hamburg Virus Testing Center in July 1997. The founder of the AVP team, Eugene Kaspersky, is a member of CARO and is regarded as one of the best virus analysts in the world.

With these key alliances, Data Fellows is pursuing its goal of helping organizations free themselves from virus infiltration. Its strategy is to integrate file encryption, encrypted communications, and anti-virus technology into a managed security infrastructure. Two of the building blocks in this strategy are its F-PROT and F-Secure Anti-Virus product lines.

F-PROT Professional, the anti-virus and data security toolkit has won several reviews and tests conducted by leading industry publications, including PC Magazine (Editor’s Choice), Software Digest, PC World, and Virus Bulletin. It’s one of the best-established anti-virus products worldwide and has experienced annual sales growth of more than 100%. Versions are available for DOS; Windows 3.x, 95, NT and NT Server; 16- and 32-bit OS/2; Novell NetWare; and the Japanese operating systems.

PC World magazine (S.A.) states that F-PROT Professional features near-perfect virus detection and extensive customization. As the magazine puts it, "F-PROT Professional is an effective and aggressive anti-virus utility brimming with options that LAN administrators will love."

The new F-Secure Anti-Virus product line combines the CounterSign™ dual virus engine detection techniques such as signature-based scanning, heuristic analysis, and checksum verification with multi-tiered data protection for Windows NT and Novell NetWare servers and their Intel desktop clients. Clients manage F-Secure Anti-Virus from a single point to safeguard against viruses over an entire enterprise. The advantages of this revolutionary approach are clear-superior detection and management in one anti-virus package.

F-Secure Anti-Virus is the most cost-effective means of securing organizations large and small. F-Secure Anti-Virus with the dual scanning engines of F-PROT and AVP is available in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the America’s, customers can chose their second engine from a list of approved anti-virus scanning vendors.