The Centers Provide Highly Qualified Expertise in Virus Defense and Research

Helsinki, Finland, May 11, 1998 -- Data Fellows, the developer of the multi-award winning F-Secure and F-PROT anti-virus software, has announced a worldwide network of Certified Anti-Virus Centers (CACs). The Data Fellows CACs provide expert support in the fight against virus attacks, and actively participate in virus research on both the local and global level.

"No other anti-virus vendor has such an extensive network of Certified Anti-Virus Centers," says Mr. Mikko Hypponen, Product Manager at Data Fellows. "We are pleased to be able to offer our unique anti-virus expertise to the data security industry and to our clients around the world."

Data Fellows already has CACs in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. The coverage will be extended to ten more countries during 1998.

The CAC network is based on a certification program for the technical staff of Data Fellows’ partner companies. Each CAC has at least one Certified Anti-Virus Expert (CAE), a person who has passed the rigorous testing by Data Fellows.

"The CAE tests are extremely demanding," says Mr. Hypponen. "Certified Anti-Virus Experts are not just experts on the F-Secure Anti-Virus product line, but also on highly technical anti-virus issues. They monitor potential virus threats to companies and end-users, predict future hazards, and detect and destroy computer viruses on a daily basis." Most CAEs have several years of experience in viruses and data security.

Says Mr. Hypponen: "Over the past decade, Data Fellows has built an extensive network of partner companies and distributors in over 80 countries. Our emphasis has always been on the partners’ technical expertise, because we believe this is the most crucial qualification in the data security field. In keeping with this philosophy, we are now offering our already highly knowledgeable partners the opportunity to become certified."

The Data Fellows certification program is an ongoing process. So far, twenty technicians have passed the test.