STI INTRODUCES REVOLUTIONARY JUNKMAIL FILTERING AND VIRUS PROTECTION

OAKHURST, California - April 10, 2002 - Sierra Tel Internet (STI), a Sierra Tel Communications Group Company, announced today that they have partnered with Postini, a premier provider of junkmail and virus filtering services, to deliver state-of-the-art email filtering for all STI subscribers. STI is launching this revolutionary email filtering solution-free of charge-to all of their subscribers in a phased roll out within the next 60 days.

With no additional software, STI subscribers will notice a dramatic decrease in annoying junkmail. The Junkmail Filter will block up to 95% of unsolicited email. Additionally, the latest tools are provided to prevent dangerous viruses from ever reaching your computer. Before these filtering solutions are activated, STI subscribers will receive emails with more detailed information.

The Junkmail Problem
The Internet version of junk mail is commonly known as junkmail or spam. In addition to being unsolicited and annoying, junkmails often include advertisements for offensive products, pornography, get-rich-quick schemes, too-good-to-be-true special offers, racially insensitive material, chain letters, and pure trash. Everyone with an active email account receives an average of 40 junkmails daily. By the year 2005, it is estimated that the total number of junkmails received per day will soar to 1600!

STI's General Manager, Mike Harian, says, "junkmail continues to multiply despite numerous legislative, consumer, and technological efforts to weed out spam." In fact, there is now 16 times as much junkmail on the Internet then there was just two years ago, according to Joyce Graff, vice president of Gartner, a consulting and researching firm.

CAUCE, The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, states that "…junkmail is more than just annoying, it costs Internet users and Internet-based businesses millions, even billions, per year. Junkmail is "postage due" marketing; it's like a telemarketer calling you collect."

STI's Junkmail Filter
STI's Junkmail Filter puts STI subscribers in control of their Junkmail. Once STI subscribers receive their activation notification email that their Junkmail Filter has been activated, they may adjust their pre-set filters. Simply select from a pre-defined list of irritating categories of spam (see Figure 1). Then, set your tolerance level for stopping intrusive mail from "lenient" to "aggressive" (see Figure 2). The Junkmail Filter uses a ranking process to determine whether a message is junkmail or a valid message. An aggressive setting will keep your inbox as spam-free as possible.

Figure 1: Junkmail Category Filters

Figure 2: Junkmail Filter Sensitivity

STI subscribers will never lose a message with the Junkmail Filter. Each subscriber is provided a private, web-based Email Center for sorting and reviewing quarantined email messages. Summaries on quarantined message activity are sent regularly to each subscriber to keep users updated. As STI subscribers interact with messages in the Email Center (see Figure 3), the Junkmail filters will intelligently adapt to their usage patterns.

Figure 3: Junkmail Email Center

The Virus Problem
Viruses are an epidemic that now rank as the number one killer of computers in the world. Infection by a computer virus can be devastating. According to McAfee.com, more than 57,000 virus threats exist today. This count increases by approximately 1000 per month! Experts estimate that while 100 million American adults have computers hooked up to the Internet at home, only half of computer-equipped households use anti-virus software.

Computer Economics report that the economic impact of virus attacks on information systems around the world was $17 billion in 2000-a dramatic increase from $12 billion in 1999. More staggering is that 84% of virus infections result in up to 20 lost work days and 50 hours for data recovery.

STI's Virus Protection Assistant
Every email user needs a powerful solution to help prevent malicious email-borne viruses from threatening their computer systems. STI is now providing such a system to all our subscribers. When the Junkmail Filter is activated, the Virus Protection Assistant will also be enabled, helping to protect STI subscribers' computers from email viruses.

With STI's Virus Protection Assistant, virus updates are provided automatically every 30 seconds by McAfee, a world leader in anti-virus software. Harian added that, "No desktop software provides this level of email-based virus protection or the ability to stay current with mutating email viruses."

If a suspicious email is quarantined, the STI subscriber will be notified via email. The STI subscribers can then view the virus-infected email safely in their STI Email Center (see Figures 4 and 5).

Figure 4: Email Center Virus Alert

Figure 5: Safely View Email Message

Get Safe!
With STI's new value-added services, we are helping to prevent viruses and junkmail from ever reaching STI subscribers. If you are interested in receiving this service and are not an STI subscriber, contact STI at 559-683-7600, 209-966-7717, or 1-877-NETS-R-US (1-877-638-7787). STI's website can be viewed at www.sti.net. To view the Junkmail and Virus Protection Assistants web site, visit www.sti.net/s-junkemail.html.

STI is the premier provider of Internet solutions in Central California. STI services include high-speed Internet access with unlimited file transfer (wireless and DSL), dial-up Internet access, global Internet roaming, web design, and web hosting.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lists the top 12 scams most likely to arrive in your inbox via spam: 1. Business opportunities that turn out to be illegal pyramid schemes. 2. Bulk email lists that turn out to violate the terms of service of most Internet service providers. 3. Chain letters via email - just as bogus as those on paper. 4. Work-at-home schemes that require investment. 5. Health and diet scams whose gimmicks don't work. 6. Effortless income. 7. Free goods for a fee for joining a club-actually a pyramid-scheme variant. 8. Investment opportunities with a high rate of return and no risk. Buy Enron (news/quote) stock instead. 9. Cable descrambler kits that don't work. 10. Guaranteed loans that turn out to be just lists of lenders. 11. Credit repair companies that can't deliver or urge you to commit fraud. 12. Vacation prize promotions that turn out to be captive-audience sales pitches. The FTC's job is to protect consumers, so if you're being nailed by a particularly outrageous spammer or scammer, tell them about it on their website: www.ftc.gov.

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