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Tumbleweed Press Releases

Tumbleweed Communications and the Anti-Phishing Working Group Report 1,422 Unique Phishing Attacks in June; Trend Underscores Importance of Email Sender Authentication Technology Adoption

June Phishing Trends Report Adds New Attack Insights From Websense, Inc.

Redwood City, CA – August 03, 2004 – Tumbleweed Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:TMWD) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group today released the “Phishing Attack Trends Report” for June 2004, an analysis of phishing scam attacks submitted to www.anti-phishing.org, the Internet’s most comprehensive archive of email fraud and phishing attacks. Analysis of over 1,400 attacks reported in June shows that 92% of all attacks use forged 'from' addresses. This trend continues to underscore the utility of email sender authentication technologies as a critical step toward reducing the effectiveness of phishing campaigns by preventing fraudulent emails from reaching inboxes.

Phishing attacks use 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers, ISPs and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them. The result of these scams is that consumers suffer credit card fraud, identity theft, and financial loss.

In June, there were 1422 new, unique phishing attacks reported to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. This was a 19% increase over the number of attacks reported in May (1197). The average number of phishing attacks per day in June was 47.4 (up significantly from the 38.6 per day for May). Analyzing this information on a weekly basis shows every week in June averaged over 300 attacks, with the last 4 days of June on track to continue this trend. Highlights of the Anti-Phishing Working Group’s June report include:

  • Number of unique phishing attacks reported in June: 1422
  • Average monthly growth rate in phishing attacks through June: 52%
  • Organization most targeted by phishing attacks in June: Citibank (492)
  • Percentage of phishing attacks using spoofed email addresses: 92%
  • Country hosting the most phishing Web sites in June: USA (27%)
  • Average lifespan of a phishing site in June: 2.25 days
  • Percentage of phishing Web sites hosted on hacked web servers: 25%
  • Percentage of phishing Web sites configured to allow criminals to remotely download captured personal data: 94%

For more information and analysis, please download a copy of the “Phishing Attack Trends Report” for June 2004 free of charge at http://www.antiphishing.org/APWG_Phishing_Attack_Report-Jun2004.pdf

Email Sender Authentication Technologies Take Critical Step Toward Reducing the Effectiveness of Phishing Campaigns

With phishing attacks increasing in volume and complexity and serving as a conduit for illegal activity, the FTC recently endorsed email authentication as a vital part of Internet communication by reporting to Congress that this technology was the best way for enterprises to address spam, phishing and virus defense. As a leader in authentication and a major government supplier of authentication technology, Tumbleweed is uniquely positioned to address this trend.

"As email spoofing, spam and phishing attacks continue to increase at a rate of more than 50% and threaten businesses, partners and customers alike, enterprises must turn to authentication-based technologies to address this problem, said Jeff Smith, Chairman and CEO of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. “Email sender authentication technologies enable businesses to send secure trusted outbound email to customers and verify inbound email from business partners – preventing fraudulent emails from reaching inboxes and providing enterprises with a reduction in email fraud and phishing attacks on their brands.”

About the Anti-Phishing Working Group
The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is focused on eliminating the problem of phishing and email spoofing attacks, by developing and sharing information about the problem, and promoting the visibility and adoption of industry solutions. Membership in the group is open to qualified financial institutions, corporations, law enforcement agencies, public policy groups and solution vendors.

The Web site of the Anti-Phishing Working Group is www.antiphishing.org. It serves as a public and industry resource for information about the problem of phishing and email fraud, including identification and promotion of pragmatic technical solutions that can provide immediate protection and benefits against phishing attacks. The analysis, forensics, and archival of phishing attacks to the Web site are currently powered by Tumbleweed Communications' Message Protection Lab™.

About Tumbleweed Communications Corp.
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of secure Internet messaging software products for enterprises. By making Internet communications secure, reliable and automated, Tumbleweed's anti-spam, email firewall, secure file transfer, secure email, and identity validation solutions help customers significantly reduce the cost of doing business. Tumbleweed products are used by millions of end-users and tens of thousands of corporations. Tumbleweed customers include ABN Amro, Bank of America Securities, Catholic Healthcare West, JP Morgan Chase & Co., The Regence Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), St. Luke's Episcopal Healthcare System, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Navy and Marine Corps. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. For additional information about Tumbleweed go to www.tumbleweed.com or call 650-216-2000.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
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.

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 email fraud such as phishing, the methods used to combat fraud and potential sales of products related to combatting fraud. 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 15, 2004 and Form 10-Q filed May 10, 2004.

Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release, including for example its guidance regarding its future performance, which represents the Company's expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be viewed as a statement about the Company's expectations after such date. Although this release may remain available on the Company's website or elsewhere, its continued availability does not indicate that the Company is reaffirming or confirming any of the information contained herein.

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