Blue Coat K9 Web Protection Earns the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval
Free Internet filtering software/community outreach resource wins over parents, children and educators
SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 28, 2006 -- Blue Coat® Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), the leader in secure content and application delivery, today announced that the National Parenting Center has awarded its 2006 Seal of Approval to Blue Coat Systems’ K9 Web Protection, a free Internet filter that enables parents to block and manage unsolicited Web content such as pornography, violence and hate speech. K9 Web Protection is offered through the Blue Coat Community Outreach Program (www.k9webprotection.com) which provides materials and resources to educate this first generation of Internet parents about the impact of the Internet on children and on parenting strategies.
“When it comes to content filters you want something that is always on guard but is also unobtrusive and doesn't slow your computer down,” said David Katzner, president, general partner, The National Parenting Center. “Our testers evaluated and applauded not only the K9 protective service, but also the fact that they offer it for free to families.”
Designed for parents, K9 Web Protection implements the same enterprise-class Web filtering technology used by Blue Coat’s enterprise and government customers worldwide. K9 Web Protection divides the Internet into more than 55 categories, relying on Blue Coat’s commercial filtering database that maintains and automatically updates more than 15 million Web site ratings. Parents can configure the software to block or allow specific categories such as pornography, spyware, and adult/mature content, and also block access to the web at selected times of day – after bedtime, for example.
“Parents in the Internet age face a new and complex challenge in creating a safe online experience for their children,” said John Carosella, vice president of content control for Blue Coat Systems. “It’s critical for parents to get educated, become more involved and embrace the very real role of moderating their children’s Internet use. Using filtering and monitoring software is crucial, but it’s not enough. Parents must recognize the Internet as a public place where they must proactively supervise and protect their children. We’re grateful that through this award, the National Parenting Center is helping us promote this urgent message.”
The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval program is an independent testing procedure conducted to judge a variety of products introduced and marketed to the parent/child consumer market. The testing involves a multi-step process conducted over an eight week period that includes participants filling out questionnaires for each product tested. Each product's desirability, sturdiness, interactive stimulation and other essential ingredients of a quality product are evaluated. Test results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received from the parent/testers. The Seal of Approval is designed to continue the ongoing efforts of The National Parenting Center to help create better informed parents as they tackle the challenges of parenting in this new millennium. For more information, please visit www.tnpc.com.
About Blue Coat Systems
Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat’s family of appliances and client-based solutions – deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centers – provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organizations to optimize security and accelerate performance between users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 30,000 appliances worldwide and is ranked #1 by IDC in the Secure Content and Application Delivery market. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems’ expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems’ products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems’ business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems’ most recently filed Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2006 and Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2005, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
