WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of network security solutions, today announced a new major release of Fireware® 9.0, the software that propels their Firebox® X Core™ and Peak™ security appliances for mid-sized businesses.

Fireware 9.0 dramatically increases the functionality and performance of the Firebox X Core and Peak security appliances to give network administrators a new-found level of granular control and stability. This release introduces a robust set of advanced networking features – each integrated within the system manager – including VPN failover, support for IKE third-party certificates, drag-and-drop VPN tunnel creation, policy-based routing, VLAN, QoS, multi-WAN failover, load balancing, and high availability with firewall rules. Robert Ward, Product Marketing Manager for Firebox X Core and Peak, said, “With Fireware 9.0, WatchGuard has delivered a quality appliance that matches or exceeds competitive offerings. We delivered Edge with a Unified Threat Management (UTM) suite in December. This restored the company’s position of leadership in security appliances for small businesses. With Fireware 9.0, we believe WatchGuard can now resume a position of competitive leadership for security appliances for medium-sized enterprises.”

“Our recent migration from WFS [a Fireware predecessor] to Fireware 9.0 has gone very smoothly,” said Alan Mercer, Director of Technology Integration for US-based Associated Catholic Charities. “The multi-WAN failover capabilities allowed us to simplify our network technology considerably and streamline day-to-day management.”

Firebox X Core appliances are ideal for small- and mid-sized enterprises with 50 to 750 users, and are capable of 300+ Mbps of firewall throughput. Firebox X Peak appliances can support 500 to 2,000 users with 2.0 Gbps of firewall throughput. Both appliances offer complete UTM solutions including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, intrusion prevention, and URL filtering.

Most Firebox X Core and Peak appliances can easily be upgraded to higher models in the product line by the simple application of a licence key. This allows an organisation to adapt and expand, meeting the evolving needs of its business. Every Core and Peak e-Series appliance is environmentally friendly, meeting European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) requirements.

New Channel Partner Programme

Along with the new Fireware 9.0 announcement, WatchGuard is announcing a new channel partner programme, which includes a co-op programme to help partners fund marketing programmes, free marketing consultations for partners to help plan and execute effective marketing programmes, and the delivery of monthly turn-key marketing campaigns. These campaigns include a variety of customisable direct mail, electronic direct mail, ad artwork and copy, sample landing pages, sales presentations, scripts for telemarketing, and tips on maximising effective use of campaigns. Elements of the turn-key campaigns are easily customisable to allow for co-branding and style preferences, and are translated into seven languages: Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish, French, and Italian.

“Rather than focus our time on planning a market development fund, we are focusing our time on working with our partners to fund marketing plans that will achieve our mutual goals for driving revenue from WatchGuard products,” said Kathleen Brush, Ph.D., Vice President of Marketing for WatchGuard. “Our partners are enthusiastic about the provision of co-op, free marketing expertise, and the ready availability of customisable co-branded marketing materials”.

Pricing and Availability

WatchGuard Firebox X Core appliances with Fireware 9.0 start at US$1,605 for the wired X550e model. New reduced pricing for the UTM bundles for Core appliances starts at US$2,200. The new solutions are immediately available through WatchGuard resellers worldwide.

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About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.

WatchGuard was privatised in October 2006, when the company was purchased by leading private equity firms Francisco Partners and Vector Capital, who, combined, have US$5.5 billion under management. WatchGuard has been undergoing numerous changes to restore growth and profitability to the firm. A new partner programme and a new major release of Fireware are the latest of these significant improvements.

WatchGuard has been delivering industry-leading network security appliances since 1996. The company’s upgradeable appliances deliver the performance, functionality, and security strength to meet the needs of SME organisations. WatchGuard’s Intelligent Layered Security protects against emerging threats and provides a platform to integrate additional services offered by the company. All WatchGuard products include 90 days of the LiveSecurity® Service subscription for vulnerability alerts, software updates, expert security instruction, as well as individualised and self-help customer care. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore, with other offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.watchguard.com.

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Certain statements in this press release, including statements about expected new products, services, features or functionality and other statements about our plans, objectives, intentions and expectations are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risk that expected new products, services, features or functionality are not available when expected or at all and the other risks described under “Risk Factors” in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 31 March 2006, and in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.

WatchGuard, LiveSecurity, Fireware, Core, Peak, and Firebox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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