Gaylord, Mich. – September 20, 2002 - Deerfield.com®, a leading provider of Internet optimization, connectivity, messaging, and security software, today announced the growth of its AntiVirus solutions and the strengthening of its partnership with Kaspersky Labs to provide the underlying technology.

About the Strategic Meeting

Recent security threats and media coverage, including the release of the National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space plan, prompted a meeting between Deerfield.com and Kaspersky Labs.

In mid September, CEO of Deerfield.com, Mike Deerfield, and CEO of Kaspersky Labs, Natalya Kaspersky, met at the Deerfield.com headquarters to discuss strategy. Conversations centered on the Internet security market, their existing and planned antivirus solutions, and the role that their relationship would play in serving the needs of small to medium-sized businesses worldwide.

“With a viable business relationship in place with well-respected antivirus vendor, Kaspersky Labs, and a proven track record of satisfied and virus-free customers, it was a natural progression to choose Kaspersky’s technology as the foundation of our desktop and server security products,” said Mike Deerfield, CEO of Deerfield.com.

Currently available, VisNetic AntiVirus Plug-in protects best-of-breed host products such as WinGate 5.0, VisNetic MailServer 5.0, and VisNetic MailFlow 1.0. In the coming weeks, VisNetic AntiVirus will be extended to safeguard both workstations and server computers.

“To effectively stop a virus infection and the propagation of that virus, antivirus solutions must be implemented at the first available point of entry,” said Deerfield. “For example, customers installing VisNetic AntiVirus Plug-ins on Internet servers, such as our proxy server or mail server, is one successful step toward virus protection. However, small to medium-sized businesses also require antivirus protection to filter viruses from other points of entry like floppy disks, CDs and network drives.”

About VisNetic AntiVirus

VisNetic AntiVirus will be available in standalone versions to support both workstations and Internet servers. VisNetic AntiVirus protects computers from common virus sources, the Internet, disks, email, mobile users, and archived/compressed files. The VisNetic AntiVirus Control Center schedules tasks such as virus definition updates, routine system scanning and virus reporting. Each task is highly configurable, which allows for customized support: what to scan, when to scan it, how to handle suspect files, etc.

VisNetic AntiVirus for Workstations is currently available in beta, with an anticipated release in early October. VisNetic AntiVirus for Servers will be available in beta near mid-October. For additional details regarding the launch of these solutions, subscribe to Deerfield.com Product Updates.

About Kaspersky Labs

Kaspersky Labs is a fast growing privately owned data-security software development company with offices in Moscow (Russia), Cambridge (United Kingdom) and Pleasanton (United States). Founded in 1997, the company concentrates its efforts on the development of world-leading data-security technologies and software. The list of available products include anti-virus software, personal firewalls and content filtering software, for a wide spectrum of customers from home users to enterprise-wide networks. Kaspersky Labs markets, distributes and supports its software and services in more than 50 countries worldwide.

About Deerfield.com®

Deerfield.com is a leading Internet software and services provider. The company, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Gaylord, Mich., specializes in Internet software solutions designed to optimize Internet connectivity for small-to-medium sized businesses and organizations. Deerfield.com publishes a leading suite of Internet connectivity, messaging, and security products distributed via ESD (Electronic Software Distribution) globally through both direct and multi-tiered Distribution Channels. From its flagship Internet sharing solution including proxy/firewall/VPN support: WinGate®, to its dynamic DNS service: DNS2Go™, Deerfield.com continues to bring it’s Vision of the Internet to its customers via a newly commissioned family of products, appropriately named VisNetic.

For more information on Deerfield.com® visit www.deerfield.com.

Photo: Vitaly Bezrodnykh, Natalya Kaspersky, and Mike Deerfield