Tumbleweed Solution for Secure Mail Protects Enterprise Networks Against Goner Email Virus

Tumbleweed Secure Policy Gateway proactively stops Goner virus before it gets to email inbox and infiltrates corporate networks

REDWOOD CITY, CA - December 5, 2001 - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), a leading provider of secure content management solutions for enabling the business Internet, announced today that its customers were successfully protected from the Goner email virus threat this week. Since Tumbleweed software is installed at the gateway, it stops the Goner virus before it can penetrate a company's network and cause corporate data loss or countless hours in damage control.

Using Tumbleweed Secure Mail and Secure Policy Gateway, enterprises can implement policies to stop the Goner virus or any other malicious executables coming in from emails. The Secure Policy Gateway looks at both the content of email messages and attachments, as well as the identity of the sender and recipient, and the business process involved such as executing a file. Since policies are directed at all email traffic going into and coming out of the enterprise, Tumbleweed software can proactively stop virus infiltration and propagation before it causes damage to a company's network. With Secure Mail, a company can then quarantine incoming email traffic coming from unknown or non-trusted parties, and/or those that contain particular file types or language content that indicates a virus could be present.

Goner (w32.Goner.A@mm), also known as, Pentagone or Gone, is ranked a seven out of 10 on CNET's virus meter threat list. The Goner virus delivered by email contains a subject line of "Hi" and includes an attachment called Gone.scr. The body of the message reads: "How are you? When I saw this screen saver, I immediately thought about you I am in a harry [sic], I promise you will love it!" In addition to protecting enterprise networks from this week's Goner virus, Tumbleweed software also can protect from all other known or unknown email viruses that pose a threat to corporations worldwide, including SirCam, Nimda.A and Hybris.

According to Ken Beer, Senior Product Line Manager at Tumbleweed Communications Corp., "Every day, important business information is being exchanged among customers and business partners via Internet email. Our customers realize the critical part email plays in their everyday business activities, and by integrating our software solutions with their existing email networks, they can proactively protect valuable network and system resources while executing efficient business practices."

Tumbleweed offers a comprehensive suite of secure mail, Web, archive and secure content management solutions. Tumbleweed's Secure Mail solution enables organizations to protect valuable corporate information and protect communications leaving and entering their network. Secure Mail can be used to set policies to apply content control, encryption, access control, attachment management, virus scanning and digital signature policies that are administered centrally and universally across its enterprise.

About Tumbleweed
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, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Chevron, Datek Online, the European Union's Joint Research Council, US Food and Drug Administration, John Deere, Merrill Lynch, Nike, Northern Trust, NTT, Salomon Smith Barney, Travelers, United Parcel Service, and seven of the world's largest postal services. Eight of the Fortune 10 and 100 of the Fortune 500 are Tumbleweed customers. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, CA 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.