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Tumbleweed Communications Announces National Distribution Agreement With Zones

Leading Single-Source Technology Reseller To Promote Tumbleweed's Email Security Solutions

Redwood City, CA – October 12, 2004 – Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:TMWD), the leading provider of e-mail security and data security solutions, today announced that it has formed a distribution agreement with Zones, Inc., a single-source direct marketing reseller of name-brand information technology products. The new alliance enables Zones to respond to the growing demand for more secure email communications by offering Tumbleweed’s email security solutions to their growing list of customers.

More than 100 companies in the health care industry and more than 1000 other enterprises worldwide have turned to Tumbleweed for e-mail and data security products to send messages and data securely, scan outbound email for compliance issues, eliminate spam and viruses, and reduce the number of hacker and phishing attacks. Zones will provide Tumbleweed with extended access to thousands of small to medium-sized businesses through its proactive procurement management process.

"During the past year our partnership with Tumbleweed has grown exponentially due to their enthusiastic channel approach and support” said Jeff Hansen, VP of Marketing at Zones. “Their world-class products and services offer Zones the opportunity to supply long-term e-mail security solutions. We look forward to providing these security solutions to our end customers."

Zones, Inc. and its subsidiaries are single-source, multi-vendor direct marketing resellers ("DMR") of name-brand information technology ("IT") products to the small to medium sized business market, enterprise, and public sector accounts. Zones offers over 150,000 products from more than 2,000 vendors, and sells these products through outbound and inbound call center account executives, specialty print and e-catalogs, and the Internet.

“Given the enormous demand for email security, Zones will be a key partner in our channel expansion,” said Jeff Ready, VP of Marketing for Tumbleweed. “They are committed to providing the best technology, truly build trusting relationships with their clients and fully understand the value and effectiveness of our security solution.”

About Tumbleweed
A leading global email security company with more than 10 years in the business, Tumbleweed provides one of the deepest product lines and one of the most developed e-mail security architectures available. From our e-mail security suite, point solutions for spam, inbound and outbound filtering, to secure data encryption and certificate authentication, Tumbleweed has a solution used by enterprises and governments to help mitigate risk and increase network bandwidth. Tumbleweed customers include ABN Amro, Bank of America Securities, Catholic Healthcare West, JP Morgan Chase & Co., The Regence Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), St. Luke's Episcopal Healthcare System, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Navy and Marine Corps. Tumbleweed 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.

About Zones, Inc.
Zones, Inc. and its subsidiaries are single-source direct marketing resellers of name-brand information technology products to the small to medium sized business market, large and public sector accounts, while supporting their legacy Mac customers through an inbound call center promoted by circulation of the Mac Zone catalog and a dedicated website. Zones sells these products through outbound and inbound account executives, specialty print and e-catalogs, and the Internet. Zones offers more than 150,000 products from leading manufacturers including 3COM, Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Epson, HP, IBM, Kingston, Microsoft, Sony and Toshiba.

Incorporated in 1988, Zones, Inc., is headquartered in Auburn, Washington. Buying information is available at http://www.zones.com, or by calling 800-258-2088. The Company's investor relations information can be accessed online at www.zones.com/IR.

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 potential sales from Tumbleweed’s indirect sales channel and the growth of that channel. 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, Form 10-Q filed May 10, 2004, and Form 10-Q filed August 12, 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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