SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) today announced that it has been ranked as the market leader in META Group's METAspectrumSM report for the Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN) market. META Group is a leading provider of information technology (IT) research, advisory services, and strategic consulting. The new METAspectrum evaluation provides an objective assessment of companies providing SSL VPN products - often referred to as application security gateways - used primarily to provide secure remote access to applications for an organization's own employees. However, SSL VPN deployments encompassing extranet access are increasingly common. Juniper Networks was positioned in the leader segment of the METAspectrum analysis and was specifically recognized for its largest market presence and highest evaluated performance, as illustrated in the METAspectrum evaluation, as well as its dominant market share, and strength in rapidly innovating and driving increasing degrees of functionality.

"Since delivering the industry's first SSL VPN appliances in 2001, we have continued to innovate ahead of the competitive field and offer differentiated products to ensure enterprises are equipped to deliver ubiquitous secure access," said Krishna "Kittu" Kolluri, general manager and vice president, security products group at Juniper Networks. "Juniper Networks' technology leadership is accurately reflected in our dominant SSL VPN market leadership, as we deliver significant advantages for remote employee, partner and customer access to network resources. We are pleased by our leader rating in the SSL VPN METAspectrum, earned by our highest scores based on META Group's METAspectrum evaluation criteria."

"We developed METAspectrum to enable IT professionals to quickly evaluate vendors based on their ability to deliver on the presence and performance criteria that matter most in a given market," said Mark Bouchard, senior program director, META Group. "Juniper Networks finds itself in an overall leadership position by virtue of its acquisition of NetScreen, which had earlier acquired SSL VPN visionary Neoteris. Juniper presents a highly refined vision of extending secured access to an ever-widening user population. It played an instrumental role in the formation of this market segment, and their early participation is reflected in the relative maturity of their solutions."

---In a separate release---

FORT LEE, N.J. -- Whale Communications today announced that it has been ranked as a market leader in META Group's METAspectrum(SM) report for SSL Virtual Private Networks (VPN). META Group is a leading provider of information technology (IT) research, advisory services and strategic consulting.

The new METAspectrum evaluation provides an objective assessment of companies providing Secure Sockets Layer virtual private network (SSL VPN). The SSL VPN market is characterized by products -- often referred to as application security gateways -- used primarily to provide secure remote access to applications.

Whale, a provider of application aware secure remote access solutions, was positioned in the leader segment of the METAspectrum analysis and was specifically recognized for its strength in its ability to deliver high degrees of application-specific filtering and attack protection.

"We are pleased to be recognized as a market leader in the METAspectrum based on the security and flexibility our remote access technology is providing large enterprises around the world," said Whale's President Daniel Steiner. "The META Group's in depth analysis of the SSL VPN space provides a valuable information tool to enterprises looking to boost productivity without compromising on security."

Whale's e-Gap Remote Access solutions are at the forefront of technology development in the SSL VPN market and are setting the security standard for anywhere remote access. Whale's application aware technology, optimized for access to leading applications, also delivers the utmost flexibility. Whale's solutions provide deep levels of security policy granularity, enhance user experience and easily integrate and leverage existing network infrastructures. This translates into more remote access hours spent by companies' employees and partners leading to a significant increase in productivity.

"With enterprises looking to bolster productivity they should consider SSL VPN as a cost-effective and highly secure method of providing remote access to employees, partners and customers," said Mark Bouchard, META Group Senior Program Director. "We developed METAspectrum to enable IT professionals to quickly evaluate vendors based on their ability to deliver on the presence and performance criteria that matter most in a given market."

Juniper Networks Inc.

Whale Communications Ltd.

Meta Group Inc.