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School Spirit Company Achieves Network Security Goals with Check Point's Intelligent Internet Security Solutions

Varsity Brands Wins with Check Point VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, SMART Management and FloodGate-1

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 15, 2004 - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that Varsity Brands, a United States marketer and manufacturer of branded products and services to the school spirit industry, selected Check Point's market-leading solutions to resolve their IT security challenges. With their implementation of a complete Internet security infrastructure from Check Point, Varsity Brands achieved uninterrupted business operations, secure remote access, improved staff utilization and optimized network bandwidth.

Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Varsity Brands has five regional offices and over 300 remote workers that require secure network access to ensure seamless 24 x 7 business operations. The company's remote workers are traveling sales representatives who require secure remote access to submit revenue-generating spirit uniform orders back to headquarters each day. In addition, their IT administrators needed a security solution that was easy to manage and allowed IT staff members to focus on new projects. Finally, Varsity Brands had to provide reliable Web access to accommodate a 40% increase in their Web site's traffic, or over one million hits, during their annual, televised spirit competitions produced for ESPN.

By leveraging the following security solutions from Check Point, Varsity Brands realized multiple technology and business benefits:

  • VPN-1® Pro™ - Secures site-to-site communications between Varsity Brands regional offices and the headquarters location in Memphis. With the integrated VPN/firewall solution in place, all Internet traffic is thoroughly examined to prevent unauthorized access or misuse of Varsity Brands corporate data.

  • VPN-1® SecureClient™ - Offers remote Varsity Brands employees secure access to corporate resources. With VPN-1 SecureClient, employees can easily access the network in a single sign-on step that lets them place secure online orders in a timely manner from any location.

  • SMART™ (Security Management Architecture) - Enables IT staff to easily manage security policies from a single management console. By leveraging SMART management, Varsity Brands reduced the number of IT administrators needed to manage the extranet infrastructure from four people to one which allowed remaining staffers to take on new IT projects.

  • FloodGate-1® - Provides a cost-effective way for Varsity Brands to optimize performance by assigning priority to business-critical applications and end-users. FloodGate-1 enables Varsity Brands to accommodate the surge in Web site traffic that occurs for the duration of the televised ESPN spirit competitions, so site visitors can enjoy continuous access to competition results, streaming video clips and other web services that draw on corporate resources.

"We decided to go with Check Point because they are known for having the best security technology on the market, and their solutions are easy to deploy and manage," said Ronald Pilcher, CIO for Varsity Brands. "With our Check Point implementation, we have successfully improved business efficiency, and we are completely confident that our corporate resources will remain protected against malicious Internet attacks that can disrupt the flow of business."

"Varsity Brands faced numerous technology and efficiency hurdles, and they required security solutions that could face each challenge head-on," said Carol Stone, vice president, marketing for Check Point Software Technologies. "By deploying a complete security solution set from Check Point, they can enjoy worry-free security that is easy to maintain while their sales force concentrates on closing business deals."

About Varsity Brands
Varsity Brands, Inc. is a marketer and manufacturer of branded products and services to the school spirit industry, and is also a provider of branded services to various other extracurricular activities. The Company is principally operating in two business segments, uniforms and accessories, and camps and events. Since 2000, the Company's uniforms and accessories segment has been responsible for approximately 60% of total revenues, with the camps and events segment contributing the balance of total revenues. Company Dance operates weekend dance conventions and competitions under the Co. Dance and Starlight names in approximately 30 United States cities. The Company also operates Intropa, a tour company that specializes in organizing trips for cheerleaders, bands, choirs and orchestras, dance and theater groups and other school-affiliated or performing groups that tour in the continental United States, Hawaii, and Europe.

About Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader of both the worldwide VPN and firewall markets. Through its Next Generation product line, the company delivers a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,300 Check Point partners in 92 countries. For more information, please call us at (800) 429-4391 or (650) 628-2000, or visit us on the Web at http://www.checkpoint.com or at http://www.opsec.com.

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©2004 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
All rights reserved. Check Point, Check Point Express, the Check Point logo, ClusterXL, ConnectControl, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 GX, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FireWall-1 XL, FloodGate-1, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, InterSpect, IQ Engine, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, Provider-1, Safe@Office, SecureKnowledge, SecurePlatform, SecureXL, SiteManager-1, SmartCenter, SmartCenter Pro, SmartDashboard, SmartDefense, SmartLSM, SmartMap, SmartUpdate, SmartView, SmartView Monitor, SmartView Reporter, SmartView Status, SmartViewTracker, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Edge, VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, , and VPN-1 VSX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668 and 5,835,726 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.