SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Websense, Inc. , the world's leading provider of employee internet management solutions, today announced that IDC, the leading provider of technology analysis, recently named Websense the market share leader in the web filtering software segment of the secure content management (SCM) market for the third consecutive year.

According to the IDC study, Worldwide Secure Content Management 2005-2009 Forecast Update and 2004 Vendor Shares: Spyware, Spam and Malicious Code Continue to Wreak Havoc, Websense increased its market share from 24.2% to 28.4% overall -- more than 10% more than its closest competitor, whose market share declined during the year.

Websense's total revenue for 2004 was $111.9 million, an increase of 37% from 2003, and billings, which represent the total amount of subscription contracts billed to customers, totaled $150.2 million, an increase of 35% from 2003.

"Websense continues to prevail in the marketplace over our competitors, and this award is yet another example of our coveted leadership position in the web filtering software industry," said Leo Cole, vice president of marketing, Websense, Inc. "Only Websense offers best-of-breed web filtering and web security solutions that organizations worldwide must have in place to effectively combat malicious internet attacks such as viruses, spyware, keyloggers and phishing scams. Websense remains committed to serving our more than 24,000 customers, in addition to our world-class network of technology alliance and channel partners."

According to IDC's report, web filtering accounted for the third-largest segment of the SCM market in 2004, reaching $433.5 million. From 2003 to 2004, the web filtering market increased 22.9%. IDC also estimated that web filtering will grow from $433 million in 2004 to $929 million in 2009, representing a 16.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Additionally, IDC reports that web filtering has evolved from addressing a single class of employee distractions - -access to inappropriate URLs -- to more comprehensive web security solutions that address a wide array of web-based threats. With regard to emerging threats in the SCM industry, viruses and worms continue to be the most serious threat facing corporations today, but spyware has rapidly climbed the priority list of enterprise security threats and now ranks as the second most serious threat facing corporations today.

Websense Enterprise(R) and Websense(R) Web Security Suite(TM) web filtering and web security software helps protect organizations and employees from a growing number of internal and external web-based security threats including malicious mobile code, worms, spyware, and phishing attacks. For increased protection, Websense Client Policy Manager(TM) (CPM) and Websense Web Security Suite-Lockdown Edition(TM) offer desktop security software that protects against known and unknown security threats and prevents the execution of unauthorized applications while enforcing employee application use policies for corporate desktops, laptops, and servers with its unique and comprehensive database of categorized applications.

In addition, Websense Security Labs(TM) mines and analyzes more than 60 million websites daily for malicious mobile code and hacks. The team manages a honeynet of unprotected computers to discover malicious mobile code, new Trojan horses, keyloggers and blended threats. The findings are used to study their techniques, actions, and behavior on an enterprise network system. Information gained from the network of honeypots provides valuable information that enables Websense Security Labs to discover attacks quickly and deliver a remedy for these attacks to Websense customers before antivirus signatures are available, thus closing a critical opportunity for exposure immediately.

"As the market leader in the web filtering software market, Websense has the extensive internet and malicious code categorization expertise necessary to provide its customers an extremely high degree of protection against rogue applications and new viruses," said Brian Burke, research manager, Security Products, IDC. "We believe Websense's web filtering and web security software will continue to play a critical role as an important and complementary enhancement to organizations' traditional antivirus and firewall deployments."

IDC's industry analysts have been measuring and forecasting IT markets for more than 30 years. IDC's software industry analysts have been delivering analysis and prognostications for packaged software markets for more than 25 years. An abstract of the IDC report is available on the IDC website at http://www.idc.com/.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes financial measures for billings that are not numerical measures that can be calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Websense has provided this measurement in press releases reporting financial performance because this measurement provides a consistent basis for understanding the company's sales activities in a period. The company believes the billings measurement is useful to investors because the GAAP measurements of revenue and deferred revenue in a period include subscription contracts commenced in prior periods. A reconciliation of the company's billings and deferred revenue for 2003, 2004 and 2005 is available on the company's website at http://www.websense.com/investors.

About Websense, Inc.

Websense, Inc. , the world's leading provider of employee internet management solutions, enables organizations to optimize employee use of computing resources and mitigate new threats related to internet use including instant messaging, peer-to-peer, and spyware. By providing usage policy enforcement at the internet gateway, on the network and at the desktop, Websense products enhance productivity and security, optimize the use of IT resources and mitigate legal liability for our customers. For more information, visit http://www.websense.com/.

(C) 2005, Websense, Inc. All rights reserved. Websense and Websense Enterprise are registered trademarks of Websense, Inc. in the United States and certain international markets. Websense has numerous other unregistered trademarks in the United States and internationally. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which, if they do not materialize or prove correct, could cause Websense's results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements containing the words "planned," "expects," "believes," "strategy," "opportunity," "anticipates" and similar words. These statements may include, among others, plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding proposed new products, services or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or financial or operating performance, including estimates of billings and revenue; statements of belief and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The potential risks and uncertainties which contribute to the uncertain nature of these statements include, among others, customer acceptance of the company's services, products and fee structures; the success of Websense's brand development efforts; the volatile and competitive nature of the Internet industry; changes in domestic and international market conditions and the entry into and development of international markets for the company's products; risks relating to intellectual property ownership; changes in estimated amounts based on the review and audit of Websense's financial statements by its independent auditors; and the other risks and uncertainties described in Websense's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at http://www.sec.gov/. Websense assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it was made.

Media Contact: Jennifer Culter Websense, Inc. 858 320 9511 jculter@websense.com

CONTACT: Jennifer Culter of Websense, Inc., +1-858-320-9511,
jculter@websense.com

Web site: http://www.idc.com/

Web site: http://www.websense.com/investors

Web site: http://www.websense.com/

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