BOSTON, MA – February 8, 2008 – New research from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE:HHS), reveals that the organizations getting the best security performance include managed security services as part of their defense. The new report, “Best Practices in Choosing and Consuming Managed Security Services” provides insight gleaned from close to 200 respondents from a broad range of industries

"These findings are significant because they reflect a shift in market awareness. Traditionally organizations have been turning to managed security services to help with compliance issues, or reduce the management associated with maintaining ongoing security or to reduce their costs,” said Carol Baroudi, research director in the IT Security practice at Aberdeen.  "The market is realizing that some kinds of security are better delivered from a managed security services provider (MSSP) that has visibility into security events across networks and across a spectrum of customers, allowing for earlier detection and earlier prevention. Additionally, the availability of certain kinds of security services on demand makes stronger security affordable to organizations that may not have the resources to deploy them in-house."

The research found that firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance shared several common characteristics: 86% reported zero failed audits, 74% use a portal or dashboard to manage security services, and63% use pre-emptive planning to address the most likely risk. The study revealed that Best-in-Class organizations are nearly twice as likely to cite improving security as a motive for adopting MSSP services than the average company. Other motives included access to knowledgeable staff and resources that go beyond the limits of their current budget, cost savings and the ability to remove direct employee access to some elements of the organization’s IT security. The study also provides guidelines for companies in selecting MSSPs and in-depth interviews with many veteran consumers of managed security services.

“This research independently confirms what we have seen in the marketplace,” said Doug Howard, Chief Strategy Office of Perimeter eSecurity, one of the sponsors who underwrote the study. “Companies are obtaining a superior security defense by deploying a comprehensive suite of managed security services that go beyond device monitoring and management.

“Perimeter has always advocated a layered IT security defense for our customers. Many SMBs think that they either don’t need or cannot afford the security services of a large enterprise.  This research confirms that SMBs can obtain the security services they need and that the best way to receive them is through an on demand MSSP or as a security software-as-a-service (SaaS) model”.

Best-in-Class organizations report fewer security incidents, malware infections, incidents of data loss, and failed audits. They also reported greater reduction in fraud and in help desk costs associated with security events. This report details the strategies, actions, and capabilities Best-in-Class organizations employ as well as the enabling technologies they choose to obtain their superior performance against various security performance metrics.

“Managed security services can make some security solutions affordable to organizations that would not be able to afford them otherwise,” said Baroudi. “When the managed security service provider is able to spread the cost across their entire customer base, solutions that aren’t affordable by organizations that would have to foot the entire bill themselves, suddenly become available. Suddenly better security is affordable.”

To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:  http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30411040&cid=4581

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results.  Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis.  As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to AberdeenTM for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company.  Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information – Opportunity – Insight – Engagement – Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market.  For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com .

About Perimeter eSecurity
As the only provider of complete security on demand, Perimeter eSecurity makes security easily available and affordable for all businesses. Perimeter's on demand security services protect thousands of computer networks nationwide, offering more than 50 different services on a subscription basis in the areas of: Vulnerability Defense, Intrusion Defense, Network Defense, Email Defense, System Defense, and User Defense. With the proliferation of security threats and technologies, clients benefit from a single-source provider that offers all services through one pre-integrated platform and web portal.

Perimeter's security SaaS services are continuously expanded, enhanced and upgraded for current and future regulatory compliance. With seven geographically distributed technical offices and three redundant data centers, Perimeter's complete, on-demand and affordable security services are always available and have been validated by multiple independent third parties. For more information about Perimeter visit www.perimeterusa.com .

For Further Information Contact:
Cathy Clarke, CNC Associates        
508-833-8533                   
cathy@cncassocs.com            
 

Carol Baroudi, Aberdeen Group
(617) 854-5287
Carol.baroudi@aberdeen.com