C I Host Introduces Free, Constant "Robotic" Security Scanning, Patching of

FORT WORTH - September 15, 2005 - To protect its massive server farm from inadvertently missing a necessary security patch, C I Host, a global leader in Web hosting and Internet solutions, will back up its security staff with an automatic monitoring system.

The automatic system, Shavlik HFNetChkProT 5, from Michigan-based Deerfield.com, will bring the highest level of security to the data and online transactions of its more than 220,000 customers worldwide.

"Security is perhaps the most crucial element of eCommerce today," said Christopher Faulkner, CEO of C I Host. "We don't want any mayhem to our system because one technician or a sole company failed to install a necessary patch against a virus."

Monitoring the thousands of servers a Web hosting company needs against viruses every second of every day has become a Herculean task - too big for even the most conscientious human staff.

In any one of the 604,800 seconds in a given week, a company with access to its hosting server could remove or reverse a crucial patch, thus leaving the whole network vulnerable.

Enter Shavlik, a "robot" monitor that will scan the global C I Host network continually to detect any server that remains un-patched or in some way is exposed to the vast number of Microsoft security vulnerabilities that pop up daily.

"Shavlik will scan our network continually from the inside and will catch servers where companies have removed or reversed a patch and let us know," Faulkner said. "We will be able to contact such clients and educate them on the importance of security."

Microsoft products are frequent targets of hackers because they make up the lion's share of computers, servers and operating systems in the industry. New threats emerge hourly and protecting against them has become an industry unto itself. Patching computers and servers across a large network is a full time job. Shavlik automates that job and builds in a higher level of reliability.

Deploying Shavlik is the latest of a series of steps C I Host has taken to protect its customers and keep the Internet robust, healthy and secure.

C I host patched all its servers before the attack in August 2003 of the MSBlast (Lovsan) worm, and was one of the few Web hosts to completely patch its servers against Code Red in 2001, sparing its customers most of the headaches of that worm.

In 2004, within 24 hours of the MyDoom viral outbreak, C I Host developed, tested and installed a virus filter called "Doompster" to totally extract and trash the MyDoom worm from the e-mails of its 205,000 clients.

"Shavlik will help keep our clients' servers safe from Internet attacks at no extra cost to them," Faulkner said. "It's another way that we put our customers first."

About C I Host

C I Host (www.cihost.com), based in the Dallas/Fort Worth market, is a Web hosting and Internet solutions provider, domain name registrar (DNR) and application service provider (ASP) serving 220,000 individual consumers and businesses in 190 countries worldwide.

C I Host creates business-class Web hosting solutions for the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) market, with the broadest portfolio of managed hosting and value-added services in the industry. C I Host is accredited by ICANN to register domain names.

C I Host is HIPAA-compliant, has passed the SAS70 Type I audit and has received its ISO 9001:2000 Certification.

C I Host has been ranked #1 in speed by the Adoloma Web Hosting Guide. C I Host has been consistently ranked among the Top 5 Web hosting companies out of 16,000 around the globe by c|net's Ultimate Web Host List, HostPulse, WebHostsOnline.com and HostChart.com. Best Data Center and Best Dedicated Service Provider 2003 by HostPulse.com. C I Host was named among the Top 25 Web hosting companies by HostIndex.com, and the Fourth Fastest-Growing Technology Company by Deloitte and Touche.

C I Host offers turn-key services ranging from initial domain name registration to custom dedicated servers for e-commerce on today's Web. The company offers innovative packages and services to the Internet community.

C I Host operates five diverse data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas. C I Host also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Jose and Newark.

All telco-grade, tier-1 data centers are wholly owned and operated by C I Host and consist of redundant diesel generator backups and a temperature-controlled secure environment with fully redundant UPS capability. All server hardware is fully tested and configured for optimal
performance. Daily Web server backups and full fire protection guard against any data loss. To deliver speed and reliability, C I Host's servers are connected to its privately-owned dark fiber network consisting of multiple GigE (1000Mbits each) optical connections to redundant Internet backbones for a total of more than 5 Gigabits of available bandwidth.