Tumbleweed Announces Share Repurchase Program

REDWOOD CITY, CA - August 5, 2002 - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD - News), a leading provider of secure messaging applications for businesses using the Internet, today announced that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $10 million of its common stock. The company may purchase either in the open market or in negotiated transactions as market and business conditions warrant.

"We believe that using a portion of cash reserves to buy back Tumbleweed stock is a prudent use of cash at current stock prices and will leave sufficient financial resources to execute our business strategies," said Doug Sabella, president and COO. "This action reflects our faith in the company and our ongoing commitment to improving shareholder value while at the same time growing our business."

The timing and amount of any shares repurchased will be determined by the company's management based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors. The purchases will be made at current market prices or in negotiated transactions off the market. The repurchase program extends over the next twelve months and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

The repurchase program will be funded using the company's working capital. As of June 30, 2002, the company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $36 million. Tumbleweed had approximately 31 million shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2002.

About Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of secure messaging solutions for businesses using the 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 the U.S. 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.

The pro forma operating results is presented for informational purposes only as an alternative for understanding Tumbleweed's operating results. The pro forma results should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and may be different from pro forma measures used by other companies.

Tumbleweed cautions that forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on current plans and expectations, and that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the guidance given at this time. These factors are described in the Safe Harbor statement below. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this guidance during the current quarter or future quarters.

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 value of Tumbleweed's stock, as well as Tumbleweed's financial resources, business strategies, and future growth. Tumbleweed is not required to repurchase any stock and may elect to discontinue the repurchase program at any time. 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, 2002 and Form 10-Q filed May 14,2002. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.