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Accudata Systems Collaborates with Blue Coat to Help Mustang Engineering Fend Off Spyware

HOUSTON, TX, October 24, 2005 -- Accudata Systems, Inc., a leading IT consulting and integration firm, today announced its successful collaboration with Blue Coat Systems implementing Blue Coat ProxySG appliances at Mustang Engineering, a service provider in the oil, gas and chemical industry, to help contain and control its spyware, adware and malware problems. As one of Bluecoat's leading Premier Partners, Accudata Systems provided Mustang Engineering with assistance in determining the technology criteria and selection for this deployment.

Details of the implementation are contained in the following press release issued by Blue Coat Systems:

MUSTANG ENGINEERING FENDS OFF SPYWARE WITH BLUE COAT

Proxy SG and WebFilter Protect Company's 2,000+ Desktops Worldwide from Web-Based Risks; Saves Time, Money and Improves Web Performance

SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 24, 2005 -- Blue Coat® Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI), a leading provider of proxy appliances, today announced that Mustang Engineering ("Mustang"), a subsidiary of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC ("Wood Group"), has deployed Blue Coat proxy appliances as the foundation for Web security to prevent spyware, block viruses and improve Web application performance.

Mustang is an independent services provider specializing in design, engineering, procurement, project management and construction management for the domestic and international oil, gas and chemical industries. Its parent company, Wood Group, is an international energy services company with $2.3 billion in sales, employing more than 14,000 people worldwide and operating in 36 countries.

Spyware poses security, privacy and productivity risks for the enterprise. Once installed on computers, it threatens companies by compromising information, breaching privacy, and degrading computer and network performance. Gartner Group estimates that as many as 40 percent of enterprise help desk calls are prompted by spyware and adware.

On a typical work day, more than 2,000 Mustang employees, contractors and vendors worldwide use the Web to check e-mail, access data and transmit billing information. In a 12 month period prior to installing Blue Coat proxy appliances, Help desk tickets related to spyware at Mustang was increasing by a rate of 10-20% per month. Mustang evaluated a number of anti-spyware desktop solutions and hosted services, but determined these were ineffective at stopping the problem or too costly for the IT team to manage across thousands of desktops.

To protect against spyware and other Web-based threats, Mustang now deploys Blue Coat Proxy SG TM appliances that are centrally managed behind the firewall at its Network Operations Center . The appliances use site information from the Blue Coat WebFilter URL filtering database to block potential spyware downloads from known and higher-risk websites. Proxy SG appliances help Mustang prevent spyware installations, combat downloads and installations from known spyware Web sites, and scan Web content for known spyware signatures. In addition to stopping the problem of spyware, Mustang is benefiting from a dramatic reduction in calls to its help desk - users recognized an immediate improvement in Web performance.

"Blue Coat Proxy SG was the only scalable, manageable and effective solution we found for preventing spyware," said Brady Brown, network administrator and project manager, IT Department, Mustang Engineering. "The best thing is that it stops spyware at the gateway, so we're spared from having to clean it off from the desktops."

So far, Brown reports that Blue Coat Web Filter has been able to categorize twice as many websites as the company's previous filtering application. He sees this advantage enabling the IT team to maintain a more effective spyware strategy with less tuning and fewer complaints from users about incorrectly classified URLs. Mustang is also benefiting from the industry's only URL filtering database with two separate categories for spyware - one for access to known spyware sources and one for destinations where spyware attempts to "phone home."

"Mustang Engineering is a prime example of a company that understands the power of the proxy for comprehensive Web security," said Steve Mullaney, vice president of marketing for Blue Coat. "Mustang has taken a no-holds-barred approach to protecting their employees, partners and customers from the risks that the Web presents."

About Blue Coat Systems
Blue Coat helps organizations make the Web safe and productive for business. Blue Coat proxy appliances provide visibility and control of Web communications to protect against risks from spyware, Web viruses, inappropriate Web surfing, instant messaging (IM), video streaming and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing - while actually improving Web performance. Trusted by many of the world's largest organizations, Blue Coat has shipped more than 25,000 proxy appliances. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale , California , and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com .

About Accudata Systems, Inc.
Accudata Systems is an IT consulting and integration firm with more than two decades of experience providing high impact IT services and integrated solutions. With focused competencies in enterprise security, IP networking and Microsoft Enterprise, Accudata Systems provides a full array of services ranging from technology assessments to project deployment and support. As trusted advisors to our clients, we assist them in creating and supporting a computing environment that maximizes their investment in information technology. Accudata Systems is headquartered in Houston , TX . Get more information at www.accudatasystems.com.

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