1999 Press Releases/March 27, 1999

COMMAND SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PROTECTS MICROSOFT OUTLOOK USERS FROM A NEW, RAPIDLY SPREADING MACRO VIRUSCommand AntiVirus™ Detects and Disinfects The W97M/Melissa.A Virus

JUPITER, FL – March 27, 1999 – Command Software Systems, Inc., developers of industry-leading anti-virus solution, Command AntiVirus™font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="2"> , have identified and provided a solution for the W97M/Melissa.A virus, a new, rapidly spreading macro virus reported in-the-wild on March 26, 1999. This virus infects Word 97 and Word 2000 documents and e-mails itself via the infected user’s Microsoft Outlook address book to as many as 50 recipients.

Unsuspecting recipients receive the infected e-mail attachment with the familiar sender name in the subject of the message, "Important Message from [user name]." The body of the message reads, "Here is the document you asked for…don’t show anyone else." Users are cautioned not to open e-mail with this subject line and are encouraged to download the free detection and disinfection solution for this virus from the Command Web site at http://www.commandcom.com. Free test drives of Command AntiVirus are available for non-customers, which can be updated with the W97/Melissa.A fix.

"Our customers began calling Friday night, March 26 reporting that Command AntiVirus had detected and reported the presence of the previously unknown virus. This was possible due to the heuristic scanning capabilities of Command AntiVirus’ HoloCheck technology," stated Dyan Dyer, Command president and CEO. "Our customers were protected, even though W97M/Melissa.A-infected documents were e-mailed to them and accessed. Command’s Emergency Virus Response Team went into action immediately and delivered a solution offering virus-specific detection and disinfection," Dyer added. "We have an additional weapon in our arsenal now -- Command AntiVirusä for Microsoftâ Exchange. Launching this week (the week of March 29^th), this new product will stop virus-infected e-mail before it can reach the user’s mailbox. We are very pleased to offer this additional layer of on-access protection to Exchange and Outlook users in the advent of the spread of W97M/Melissa.A."

W97/Melissa.A infects Word 97 or Word 2000 documents when closed and infects templates on open. An additional trigger occurs when the current day of the month is equal to the current time (ex: 3/26; 3:26), causing the following message to be inserted into a document, "Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score, plus fifty points for using all my letters. Game’s over. I’m outta here."

Command AntiVirus™ for Microsoftâ Exchange, available the week of March 29, 1999, is being offered at introductory discount pricing of 50% off for the first 90 days. During this introductory period, a 25-user license will cost only $378.50. This is 50% off the standard list price of $757.

Command Software Systems is the maker of Command AntiVirusCommand AntiVirus with F-PROT Professional^®, the world's leading anti-virus solution. Recipient of Checkmark Level Two certification from West Coast Labs, Command AntiVirus has been independently tested and proven to not only detect 100% of viruses "in-the-wild" (Level One certification), but to employ the industry leading capability of 100% disinfection of these same viruses (Level Two certification). Command AntiVirus, which features HoloCheck scanning technology, is available on multiple platforms including Windows 3.x, Windows 95 and 98, Windows NT, NetWare, DOS, OS/2 and soon to debut on the Lotus® Notes and Microsoft® Exchange platforms.

Command Software Systems, Inc., was formed in 1983 to bring leading-edge software programs to the marketplace. CSSI designs, develops and markets comprehensive data security and anti-virus software for both networks and personal computers. Customers include many of the Fortune 1000 and numerous government agencies.

Visit our Web site at www.commandcom.com to find out more about Command Software and Command AntiVirus.