H&R Block turns to Pointsec to secure critical business data

Pointsec to encrypt financial information for Australia's leading tax accountants

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – May 11, 2005

Pointsec®, the global leader and de facto standard for enterprise security software for desktop PCs, laptops, PDAs and smartphones, today announced it will provide endpoint security technology for H&R Block, Australia's leading tax preparation company.

Pointsec, along with partner Lightsource Technologies, worked with H&R Block to implement Pointsec for PC® encryption technology throughout the Australian branch in March to ensure that the business critical data stored on the computer systems remains private and secure. The order is H&R Block's first with Pointsec.

"Being in the tax business, we store and deal with massive amounts of private client information, so protecting that data is a major priority for H&R Block." said Grant Robertson, IT Manager at H&R Block, Australia. "We must also make sure that we comply with the Australian Privacy Act, because if a theft occurred in our offices we are ultimately responsible for protecting the data stored on the system. The top-level encryption of Pointsec's solution gives us the confidence that we are compliant and no matter what happens, our data is completely secure."

According to Oscar Morén, managing director of Pointsec Australia, H&R Block's implementation marks a change in attitudes for Australian enterprises when it comes to data protection.

"It is great to see that H&R Block and other leading Australian enterprises are thinking seriously about protecting the data kept on its systems," said Mr Morén. "Taking that preventative measure of securing company and customer data averts potentially expensive and damaging information leaks."

Established in 1988, Pointsec Mobile Technologies currently has operations in Australia, Japan, Europe, the US and the Middle East. The company is the only provider of encryption solutions for mobile devices to be certified under the Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4) of the Common Criteria classification, the highest commercial level. Pointsec solutions can be used on all major operating systems including Windows, Microsoft Pocket PC, Microsoft Smartphone, Palm OS, Symbian OS and any type of removable media.

H&R Block joins Pointsec's client base of Australian and New Zealand government departments as well as many of the world's largest corporations and government agencies including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, ABB, Electrolux and Ericsson.

About H&R Block
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2005, H&R Block is the world's largest tax services provider, having served more than 400 million clients since 1955. The sixth largest retailer in the world, H&R Block has more than 12,000 locations serving taxpayers primarily in Australia, Canada and the United States.

About Pointsec
Pointsec is the worldwide de facto standard for mobile device security - with the most customers deployed, highest level of certification, and more complete device coverage than any other company. Pointsec delivers a trusted solution for automatic data encryption that guarantees proven protection at the most vulnerable point where sensitive enterprise data is stored - on mobile devices. By securing sensitive information stored on laptops, PDAs, smartphones, and removable media, enterprises and government organizations can protect and enhance their image, minimize risk, shield confidential data, guard information assets, and strengthen public and shareholder confidence. Pointsec's customers include blue chip companies and government organizations around the world. Founded in 1988, Pointsec Mobile Technologies AB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Protect Data AB, publicly traded (PROT) on the Stockholm stock exchange. The company has four U.S. offices and 11 EMEA offices.