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To: Edwarda who wrote (5687)	8/16/1999 11:08:00 AM
From: Ottoman	Respond to of 6021

Federal Energy Regulation Commission Designates Network Associates PGP [NETA-news] Federal Energy Regulation Commission Designates Network Associates PGP As Required Security Standard Gas and Electric Companies Nationwide Move to Deploy PGP to Secure Communications and Internet Business Transactions SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Network Associates, Inc. [NETA-news] today announced that the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC), an independent regulatory agency within the U.S. Government's Department of Energy, has mandated the implementation of its industry-leading PGP encryption and authentication technology by all members of the gas industry. This mandate for standardization is a part of the FERC's effort to bring security and efficiency to electronic communications within the utility industry. In a related decision, the U.S. Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) announced that it is in the process of standardizing on PGP for increased data protection between and within member utility companies. The use of PGP will allow the 165 corporate GISB members throughout the natural gas industry to conduct electronic business smoothly while ensuring their data remains private and uncorrupted. The FERC and GISB mandates are part of a broader movement by utility companies industry-wide to standardize on PGP for secure communications. "The fact that PGP software now supports virtually every commercially used platform and operating system, is used by millions worldwide, and met all our stringent requirements for data privacy, data integrity, authentication and non-repudiation made it an obvious choice," said Rae McQuade, executive director of the Gas Industry Standards Board. "Using PGP has allowed our member companies to engage in secure e-business communications with confidence." The implementation of the PGP product as an industry standard for natural gas companies will help secure and simplify electronic communications and business transactions throughout the market sector, alleviating administrative burdens associated with protecting data stored or transferred electronically. This standardization will allow member companies to evolve their business while maintaining focus on their customers, service and competition. As part of its role within the industry to create an efficient, effective marketplace while protecting consumers, the Federal Energy Regulations Committee has echoed GISB's efforts by issuing a Federal mandate stating that all members of the gas industry must use all security features of PGP 2.6 or greater. GISB is a voluntary, independent organization comprised of companies within all segments of the natural gas industry. The organization works with three main objectives: to develop and maintain voluntary standards governing electronic communications for the business transaction within the natural gas industry; to serve as a forum for reaching market-responsive solutions; to enhance the reliability of gas service through easy access to the information standards needed for critical business transactions. "The PGP product has long been the de facto standard for data encryption and authentication," said Mona Doss, senior product marketing manager for PGP at Network Associates. "This adoption of the PGP software as the standard for the public utilities industry is a real world illustration of corporate confidence in the strength and position of the security PGP provides." PGP Command Line enables electronic business by providing encryption and authentication for automated processes, such as batch transfers, for several platforms. PGP Data Security is a tightly integrated suite which includes components such as PGP Desktop (email, file, disk), PGP VPN client, PGP Policy Management Agent, PGP Certificate Server and the PGPsdk (software developers toolkit). In addition to its built-in encryption and authentication technology, the PGP product also supports other widely used industry standards such as RSA, SSL (TLS), OpenPGP, LDAP/S and X.509 v3 certificates and offers plug-in support for virtually all major commercial and freeware email clients. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Network Associates, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise network security and management software. Network Associates Net Tools Secure and Net Tools Manager products offer best of breed, suite-based network security and management solutions. Net Tools Secure and Net Tools Manager suites combine to create Net Tools software, which centralizes these point solutions within an easy-to-use, integrated systems management environment. For more information, Network Associates can be reached at 408-988-3832 or on the Internet at nai.com . NOTE: Network Associates, PGP, and Net Tools and Network Associates are registered trademarks of Network Associates, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other registered and unregistered trademarks in the document are the sole property of their respective owners.

To: Edwarda who wrote (5687)	8/16/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: Ottoman	Respond to of 6021

McAfee.com Launches ActiveShield Technology - Revolutionary 'Real-Time' PC Protection Leading Online PC Management Destination Delivers Next-Generation McAfee Clinic With Industry's First Version-Less, Web-Based PC Security Service SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- McAfee.com ( mcafee.com ), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Network Associates, Inc. [NETA-news], and the premier Web destination for online PC security and management services, today announced ActiveShield, the industry's first anti-virus protection technology to offer users "real-time" virus scanning that is never out of date. ActiveShield technology provides users with continuous, up-to-date protection both when they are connected to the Internet and when they are not. With ActiveShield, McAfee.com delivers the first implementation of the next generation of McAfee Clinic premium services. ActiveShield technology continuously monitors for new updates and special virus alerts when online and notifies the user if an update is needed. Its advanced anti-virus technology resides on the user's PC providing powerful protection from harmful viruses even when they are working offline. It monitors all file input and output, downloads, program execution, email communication, and other system-related activities through which a virus could enter and proliferate itself. If a virus is discovered, ActiveShield instantly advises the user to clean or delete the file before it is opened. "ActiveShield truly leads the transformation of the software paradigm to a service model as customers seek out maintenance-free applications," said Jeff Platon, vice president of sales and marketing for McAfee.com. "With ActiveShield, McAfee.com revolutionizes the delivery of software over the Web and introduces to our customers another easy-to-use and personalized breakthrough product for PC protection and maintenance." Never Out of Date ActiveShield's auto-updating feature provides the user with the latest versions, eliminating the need to manually seek out or purchase new updates and upgrades. The user is furnished with immediate notification of new updates, and also a friendly reminder to connect to the Internet to obtain them, if the PC has not been connected to the Internet for a period of time. Internet Based Installation Purchasing and installing McAfee.com's ActiveShield over a highly secure Internet connection is easier, faster and more convenient than purchasing at a retail outlet and users never have to worry about the product not being available. This also means McAfee.com is able to avoid the high costs associated with packing, distribution and overhead, offering further cost savings to the user. In addition, advanced technology has significantly decreased the overall size of the program thereby taking up less space on the PC's hard drive and enabling it to be downloaded more quickly to the user's PC. Virus Early Warning System ActiveShield and the McAfee Clinic are directly supported by the industry leading AVERT (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team), a division of Network Associates Labs, which provides Clinic users with immediate alerts and updated information on new viruses around the world, 24 hours a day. Intuitive, User-Friendly Layout Ideal for All Skill Levels ActiveShield's convenient and simple control panel enables the user to determine personal preferences for updates and scanning. Also, the extensive new reference area assists users with troubleshooting and other related issues more easily and effectively. New Premium Subscriber Services ActiveShield is the premier feature of McAfee.com's next generation McAfee Clinic. New features of Clinic include: * Continuous Protection -- users receive continuous protection from harmful viruses with ActiveShield's "real-time" anti-virus scanning technology * Scan Now -- allows users to instantaneously scan their PCs for viruses on demand while connected to the Internet. Based on the award-winning VirusScan, this online version is easy to use and provides detection as well as virus removal capabilities for immediate results. VirusScan online serves as an interim solution until the user can download and initiate continuous protection with ActiveShield * Create Rescue Disk -- allows users to create a clean, virus-free floppy disk to start a disabled PC without further infecting the hard drive * Clean Hard Drive -- safely removes unnecessary and unneeded files which can accumulate on the user's PC and maximizes hard disk space by eliminating the hundreds of individual cache files that browsers leave behind. This improved feature now allows users to select individual files for deletion * Optimize Performance -- performs various hardware and software system checks on the user's PC to uncover potential conflicts which may inhibit peak PC performance * Software Update Finder -- automatically finds updates, patches and fixes for over 4,000 software titles In addition, McAfee Clinic performs various diagnostic analyses to provide users with customized information and recommendations. Users can also consult the convenient and extensive reference area to learn more about the Clinic as well as their specific PC-related issues. McAfee.com's New Look And Feel The new and improved layout of McAfee Clinic creates a unique online experience for subscribers. The new look is part of the recently announced enhanced intuitive design of the McAfee.com site. As part of the site's updated structure, McAfee.com has been divided into six task-based centers which allow users to easily and conveniently access best-of-breed products and services for securing, managing and optimizing their PCs online. The six new centers include: Anti-Virus Center, PC CheckUp Center, Shopping Center, Download Center, Support Center and the Y2K Center, which PC Magazine recently called "the best online (Y2K) tool we've seen yet." Customers interested in McAfee Clinic can sign up for a free trial of its new premium services offered in the Anti-Virus and PC CheckUp Centers. Yearly subscriptions will be available for $39.95, but, for a limited time, McAfee.com will be presenting a number of special offers. McAfee.com is the leading online service and e-commerce destination devoted to providing users with the ability to update, upgrade and manage their PCs over the Web. Combined with a range of popular search, shopping and personalization services, McAfee.com has attracted millions of business and consumer users to become one of the largest and most targeted communities on the Internet. Please visit it McAfee.com mcafee.com. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Network Associates, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise network security and management software. For more information, Network Associates can be reached at 408-988-3832 or on the Internet at nai.com. NOTE: Network Associates and McAfee are registered trademarks of Network Associates and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other registered trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.

To: Edwarda who wrote (5687)	8/18/1999 2:32:00 AM
From: Chuzzlewit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6021

Okay, I will take up your challenge. The hardest part of the forecast is A/R because sales are prone to so much manipulation. Larson has set a goal (once again!) for DSO to drop to 100 days. Ordinarily, the calculation of A/R would be simple. It would be equal to Sales X 100/91, or 203.5 MM (an increase of $4.5 MM over the previous quater). But I don't believe that scenario will come to pass because of the bimodal nature of the sales time series. So instead, let's assume that payment expectations are based on an aging of A/R. Now we can't obtain this number without looking at the sales journal, but let me offer this as a guess: 30% of sales booked for the current quarter will pay; 65% of sales booked for the prior quarter will pay; and 5% of sales booked two quarters ago will pay. Based on this model, we would have receipts of $84 MM during the quarter. Thus, A/R would be expected to balloon by about $101MM to $300MM. The big unknown in all of this is the nature of the A/R. If this is indeed due to a channel stuffed with unwanted inventory my scenario could be correct. If they are real sales to companies that pay slowly, then it is possible that the first estimate is closer to being correct (although not as a result of the simple-minded calculation indicated). So to hedge my bets I will assume that an additional $50MM will come in from those sales booked in Q1 which will lead to an increase in A/R of $51MM. Intrepid prediction: =====> A/R will be about $250MM at the end of Q3 if sales are around $185 MM. Analysts will quickly point out that DSO is 123 days, but they will fail to recognize that the bimodal nature of the sales makes this consistent with with 108 (or so) days. Tomorrow I will think about the next component that will take its toll on my calculator: deferred revenues. However, as a parting shot, let me say with respect to your prediction: However, since the company will not be burning cash for the quarter ... I don't think so ... TTFN, CTC