Forum Systems, the Web Services and SOA security infrastructure company for XML acceleration, threat protection and trust management, announced that Forum XWall Web Services Firewall was awarded the "Most Outstanding Product of the Year" from the pool of 48 winners of Network Computing's Well-Connected Awards. This marks the second time that Forum Systems' has beat out its competition with Forum Systems Sentry SOA Gateway having won "Product of the Year" in the overall Business Applications Category for the Network Computing 2004 Well-Connected Awards. Forum XWall is the industry's first XML Firewall equipped with security that is applied to individual messages (vs. packets) as well as adaptive XML intrusion prevention rules that actively protect against XML viruses, data corruption and service-oriented attacks. Forum XWall is unique because it installs in minutes and allows organizations to confidently move ahead with production deployments of SOA and AJAX applications while reducing risk. It is also the only product that can take governance policies and enforce them using Forum's policy anticipation technology - which is able to evade threats and adjust policies accordingly.

The 48 categories in Network Computing's 12th Annual Well-Connected Awards fall into eight key areas of coverage: Security, Network & Systems Management, Enterprise Applications, Wireless, Messaging & Collaboration, Network Infrastructure, Application Infrastructure and Storage & Servers.

"From our pool of 48 winners, we also chose one product that rises above all others--Forum Systems' Forum XWall, which we dubbed the Most Outstanding Product of the Year," said Mike Lee, editor of Network Computing. "The hype around Web services outpaced that of just about every technology we covered this year. SOA, XML, AJAX and Web 2.0 have not only created new ways for businesses to work together, but also new avenues for intruders to gain access to your data and systems. Forum XWall is one of the few SOA security products that fights unnecessary complexity. It lets admins easily perform a high-level configuration to gain some basic protection. Forum XWall starts at a relatively low price--around $20,000--and can be expanded as your SOA grows. Better yet, this product plays well with others and integrates easily with ID management and antivirus products. It represents what being Well-Connected is all about."

"We're honored that not only have two of our leading products won Network Computing's Well-Connected Awards in their respective categories, but that Forum XWall was chosen as the 'Most Outstanding Product of the Year' from a pool of 48 winning products," said Wes Swenson, CEO and president of Forum Systems. "Forum XWall is a product born out of the need for powerful security features within an easy to use solution. Forum Systems has continually outperformed our competitors based on customer deployments, innovative technology and unbiased industry acknowledgments like Network Computing's Well-Connected Awards. We remain committed in our quest to enable Web services that will not only serve as an efficient means to conduct business but also a significant source of revenue for companies. While Forum remains steadfast as a security specialist, we will be launching the first Service Enablement Platform that will revolutionize the delivery of mainstream service-oriented applications. Forum Systems thanks Network Computing for their diligent product reviews and we also send out our congratulations to all 46 awardees."

As pioneers in the Web services security and now SOA application delivery arena, Forum Systems has brought to the market the industry's first XML Firewall product and first Vulnerability Assessment tool for XML Web Services. Over fifteen percent of the Fortune 1000 enterprises have adopted Forum System's architecture and technology including the nation's top e-retailer Amazon, the top telecommunications company Motorola, the largest financial services firm Citigroup and is being used by the US Internal Revenue Service.

Forum Systems is the only company with a complete line of hardware and software products for Web Services and SOA security addressing XML acceleration, trust management, threat protection, information assurance and XML acceleration. Forum Systems also holds the strongest channel program in the industry with OEM relationships with Caymas, Oracle, NetContinuum and Breach Security. Forum products offer the widest integration capabilities with leading products from Computer Associates, HP, IBM, Microsoft, nCipher, Crossbeam Systems, Network Engines, Oracle, RSA Security, Entrust, Sun, Tibco, Software AG, Infravio, SafeNet and SonicSoftware.