Diversified Data Design Corp. Selects Tumbleweed for Secure Data Excha

Diversified Data Design Corp. Selects Tumbleweed for Secure Data Exchange

    Business Editors/Technology Writers

    REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2005--

Tumbleweed's Secure Email and File Transfer Products to Enable Secure Exchange of Sensitive Patient Health Information
    Tumbleweed(R) Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), the leading provider of e-mail and file transfer security solutions, announced today that Diversified Data Design Corp. (DDD), the nation's leading specialty processor of encounter data, has selected Tumbleweed to provide secure file transfer and email communications. DDD will incorporate two Tumbleweed products, SecureTransport and MailGate Secure Messenger, to build a secure infrastructure for sending and receiving electronic health care information.
    SecureTransport is an award-winning enterprise-class secure file transfer product for moving financial transactions, critical business files, large documents, XML, and EDI transactions over the Internet and private IP networks. SecureTransport is a centrally managed, client-server solution supporting a broad set of open standard file transfer protocols, including FTP, secure FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, and AS2. By utilizing a secure infrastructure for transferring Protected Health Information (PHI) over the Internet, DDD customers can align their HIPAA compliance efforts with internal efficiency and automation initiatives.
    MailGate Secure Messenger inspects inbound and outbound email at the network gateway and, based on customer-defined parameters, dynamically redirects messages that contain protected health information (PHI) and other sensitive content to a secure, encrypted channel. With Secure Messenger, the factors affecting any secure deployment such as user behavior, policy enforcement, and technology interoperability are all controlled and centrally managed. As a result, DDD is able to give its affiliated health plans and provider organizations an extendible secure messaging infrastructure that goes beyond HIPAA's privacy regulations. Moreover, Secure Messenger allows DDD to give any trading partner a secure, HIPAA-compliant channel by simply logging on to the DDD's secure mail server. DDD's Web server uses Secure Messenger to encrypt the entire tunnel, which allows the sender to not have to worry about encrypting the data.
    "DDD invested in Tumbleweed solutions not just for all of the large delegated medical groups and IPAs we receive data from, but also for their smaller network providers that need to send sub-capitated data. With some of the industry initiatives DDD is involved in, it is important to us that all of the various provider organizations have a free and secure way to submit sensitive information. The Integrated Healthcare Association's Pay for Performance initiative is a perfect example -- DDD tries to remove a lot of the hassles and expenses for organizations interested in collecting all of their increasingly valuable encounter data," said Horace Clark, President and CEO of DDD.
    "DDD clients include nearly every managed care organization in California, and we are extremely pleased and proud of the fact that they selected Tumbleweed solutions for their infrastructure," said Joseph Fisher, VP of Marketing for Tumbleweed Communications. "Establishing secure online channels for exchanging patient data is essential both for regulatory compliance and for business process efficiencies, and we're very pleased to be working with DDD to provide these solutions."

    About Diversified Data Design Corp.

    Founded in 1974 as a physician billing service, DDD transformed into a specialty processor of encounter data more than 15 years ago to meet the unique needs of California's delegated marketplace. DDD currently captures encounters from medical groups, IPAs, hospitals, and various other provider organizations that care for more than 9 million health plan members. In addition, DDD was selected by NCQA to assist in their role as the independent data aggregator for the Integrated Healthcare Association's Pay for Performance program -- the nation's largest performance-based rewards initiative. For more information, visit www.dddcorp.com or contact DDD at 1-310-973-2880.

    About Tumbleweed Communications

    Tumbleweed provides security solutions for email protection, file transfers, and identity validation that allow organizations to safely conduct business over the Internet. Tumbleweed offers these solutions in three comprehensive product suites: MailGate, SecureTransport and Valicert Validation Authority. MailGate provides protection against spam, viruses and attacks, and enables policy-based message filtering, encryption and routing. SecureTransport enables business to safely exchange large files and transactions without proprietary software. Valicert Validation Authority is the world-leading solution for determining the validity of digital certificates. Tumbleweed's enterprise and government customers include ABN Amro, Bank of America Securities, Catholic Healthcare West, JP Morgan Chase & Co., The Regence Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), St. Luke's Episcopal Healthcare System, the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Defense, and all four branches of the US Armed Forces. Tumbleweed was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. For additional information about Tumbleweed go to www.tumbleweed.com or call 650-216-2000.

    SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

    Tumbleweed cautions that forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on plans and expectations as of the date of the press release, and that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the guidance given at this time. These factors are described in the Safe Harbor statement below.
    Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the features and performance of Tumbleweed's MailGate Secure Messenger and SecureTransport products. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form 10-K filed March 16, 2005.
    Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release, which represents the Company's expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be viewed as a statement about the Company's expectations after such date. Although this release may remain available on the Company's website or elsewhere, its continued availability does not indicate that the Company is reaffirming or confirming any of the information contained herein.

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CONTACT: Atomic PR (for Tumbleweed) James Hannon, 415-402-0230 james@atomicpr.com or Diversified Data Design Corp. Noelle Porter, 310-973-2880

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE SOFTWARE NETWORKING INTERNET E-COMMERCE PRODUCT SOURCE: Tumbleweed Communications Corp.

Copyright Business Wire 2005