SBC Helps Secure the Homeland

SAN ANTONIO -- In an effort to help city, county and state governments to comply with new U.S. Department of Homeland Security standards and recommendations, SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) announced today a risk assessment program that can help to prevent hackers and cyber terrorists from breaking into and disrupting mission-critical communications networks.

The program follows on the heels of the recent announcement by the United States Office of Domestic Preparedness, earmarking nearly $1.5 billion for states, localities and U.S. territories to enhance security measures. Of that $1.5 billion, $200 million has been designated to reimburse the costs incurred by the states and cities to protect critical infrastructure.

The SBC Homeland Security Risk Assessment package, a central component of the SBC Homeland Security Initiative across its 13-state service territory, provides a thorough assessment of data and network hardware security and other services by professional evaluators to help government entities maximize security both inside and outside of network firewalls.

"Communication security and reliability are paramount issues for our city, county, and state governments," said Ray Wilkins Jr., group president, Marketing and Sales, SBC Communications. "Our assessment, consulting and specialized communications solutions are designed to help government agencies in protecting critical infrastructure and the security of their networks, upon which we all depend."

SBC companies also offer several specialized services to help government entities and its first responders - typically police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians - within its 13-state region to defend against a wide array of potential security breaches.

The SBC Homeland Security Risk Assessment package for state and local governments includes flexible features that help agencies move toward achieving compliance with government continuity plans.

Experienced SBC professionals will perform security assessments on existing networks and make recommendations using the SBC Homeland Security Risk Assessment process. Recommendations may include redundant networks, intrusion detection services, and anti-virus applications, just to name a few.

This package includes an evaluation of the customer's existing communications security, which can go beyond the core telecommunications and network architecture to address 9-1-1 connectivity in police and fire departments to other mission-critical network operations at the state level.

SBC companies also offer customized networking solutions that include wide area networks (WAN) services, firewalls and firewall management, data back-up capabilities, Internet Protocol (IP) phones, and video surveillance equipment.

"Government agencies, especially at state and local levels, should regularly examine and evaluate the security of their communications and data networks because they could be primary targets of attacks," said Chris Christiansen, IDC's Program Vice President for Security Products and Infrastructure Software. "SBC Communications offers a compelling package that could help government agencies pro-actively address potential issues of concern."

SBC companies have extensive experience in business continuity planning and are an established leader in network security at the city, county, state and federal levels. In fact, it recently implemented an internal technology system and process for the State of California that notifies the company's 6,000 California technicians with Amber Alerts to assist in search efforts that aid the safe return of abducted children.

SBC companies have been educating businesses, schools, hospitals, and government agencies about essential network security issues and how to develop continuity plans that provide communication continuity during any kind of disaster.

SBC Communications Inc.