Merkantildata Selects F-Secure's "Security as a Service"™

Espoo, Finland, March, 21, 2000 - Merkantildata, a leading facility management company in Finland, has selected F-Secure's Security as a Service solution as its platform to offer security management services to enterprise customers. F-Secure, a leading provider of centrally-managed, widely distributed security solutions, said that Merkantildata's SAFEtransfer services would offer Security as a Service as part of Merkantildata's FULLcare application service portfolio.

SAFEtransfer is part of the overall Full Care solution, a complete service concept developed in Finland. It allows the firm to outsource partly or completely IT control, support, maintenance and servicing functions. Under a complete Full Care package, Merkantildata takes total responsibility for the availability of the IT systems.

Jussi Partanen, Director of Marketing at Merkantildata ASA said, "We selected F-Secure as our security solution vendor because of the company's vision for integrated security management through a single platform. Security as a Service will enable Merkantildata to deliver state-of-the-art security services cost-efficiently together with our other application services to end customers. We are delighted to have such a leading edge company as F-Secure as a business partner".

The centrally managed security services will initially be deployed from Merkantildata's operating center in Helsinki, Finland. SAFEtransfer concept will include system integrity, secure end-to-end networking with distributed firewalls and secure stored data services with extensive help desk and reporting services. The pricing of service is based on monthly fees.

About Merkantildata

Merkantildata ASA in one of the leading suppliers and integrators of information and communication technology (ICT) in the Nordic countries. Merkantildata's activity is divided into the business segments: System Integration, Application and Communication. Merkantildata's corporate management is located in Oslo. Merkantildata has offices in central areas in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.