Tumbleweed Allowed Patent for Integration of Digital Certificates with Secure Messaging Technology

REDWOOD CITY, CA - March 9, 2000 - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), a leading provider of Internet communications services, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has allowed Tumbleweed a patent for technology that integrates digital certificates within secure online messages.

Tumbleweed Integrated Messaging Exchange™ (IME™) enables customers to use digital certificates in secure messaging. IME is a set of products and services that leverage the Internet and existing email to enable secure, trackable online communication.

"As an early mover in the secure messaging market, Tumbleweed has had a valuable opportunity to develop and patent unique new technologies," said Jeffrey C. Smith, president and CEO of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. "The IME platform - a comprehensive messaging infrastructure - is winning in the marketplace because it meets our customer requirements."

About Tumbleweed Communications Corp.
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of solutions for managing secure communication and collaboration to enable the business Internet. Tumbleweed's robust policy-based framework empowers organizations to safely share and protect critical information, increase customer loyalty and privacy and dramatically reduce costs. Tumbleweed is trusted by 1,000 blue-chip customers including American Express, Chevron, Datek Online, the European Union's Joint Research Council, First Union Wachovia, John Deere, Merrill Lynch, Nike, Northern Trust, NTT, Salomon Smith Barney, Travelers and US Food and Drug Administration. One hundred of the Fortune 500 are Tumbleweed customers. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., with offices around the world.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the security features of Tumbleweed's products and the activities of any third party. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form 10-K filed March 30, 2001 and Form 10-Q filed November 13, 2001. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.