SAN DIEGO, March 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Websense, Inc. , a global leader in web security and web filtering productivity software, today announced that Websense is the first company to achieve both the Checkmark Premium Web Filtering and Anti-spyware Installed certifications from West Coast Labs, one of the world's foremost independent test laboratories. The award-winning Websense(R) Web Security Suite(R) is the only product with the distinction of these two certifications.

West Coast Labs is an independent organization which tests information security products. The Checkmark System certifies information security products to real-world standards. As one of the leading global certification brands, it is an integrated system of standards recognized as a reliable indicator of performance levels.

"West Coast Labs recognized the need for an 'anti-spyware' certification program to give IT administrators a clear understanding of what they should expect from an anti-spyware solution," said Chris Thomas, operations director of West Coast Labs. "We put Websense Web Security Suite through the rigors of our installed spyware tests and it proved to offer broad protection against the most insidious forms of spyware."

Both certifications were based on testing of the Websense Web Security Suite. Websense Web Security Suite is an award-winning internet security solution that protects organizations from emerging and existing web-based threats. Websense Web Security Suite protects against spyware, malicious mobile code (MMC), and phishing and pharming attacks. Unlike some other solutions, it also blocks spyware and keylogger backchannel communications from ever reaching their host servers. In addition, only Websense Web Security Suite includes the Websense Web Protection Services(TM) -- SiteWatcher(TM), BrandWatcher(TM), and ThreatWatcher(TM) -- to help protect organizations' websites, brands, and web servers.

"The Checkmark certifications are significant because they demonstrate that Websense has met the standards set by West Coast Lab's rigorous testing programs," said Leo J. Cole, vice president, marketing for Websense, Inc. "Websense now has third-party validation of the value that we deliver to our customers -- one powerful product with best-of-breed web filter and highly effective spyware protection." Testing Criteria

For a product to be certified for Premium Web Filtering Checkmark Certification by West Coast Labs, the product must ensure that during the test period, 100% of attempts to access material via the web in contravention of a standard web usage security policy will fail and that such attempts will be logged.

For a product to be certified to the Installed Spyware Checkmark, it must be able to detect and nullify a range of installed spyware samples drawn from the West Coast Labs test suite. West Coast Labs' Spyware Test Suite includes a variety of backdoors, downloaders, exploits, proxys, RATs, password stealers, crackers, hijackers, financials and stealers.

Websense software is available for organizations that want to protect themselves from internet and application security threats. For a free 30-day evaluation of Websense software or for more information on protecting your organization from a wide range of threats including spyware, peer-to-peer, virus outbreaks and internal hacking exploits, please visit http://www.websense.com/. Websense Security Labs(TM) offers free email security updates as new internet threats are discovered and is available at http://www.websensesecuritylabs.com/.

About Websense, Inc.

Websense, Inc. , a global leader in web security and web filtering software, is trusted to protect 24 million employees worldwide. Websense proactively discovers and immediately protects customers against web-based threats such as spyware, phishing attacks, viruses and crimeware with maximum protection and minimal effort. With diverse partnerships and integrations, Websense enhances our customers' network and security environments. For more information, visit http://www.websense.com/.

(C) 2006, 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.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ronnie Manning Websense, Inc. 858 320 9274 rmanning@websense.com

CONTACT: Ronnie Manning of Websense, Inc., +1-858-320-9274,
rmanning@websense.com

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