Media Contacts:

Tom Wethington Executive Alliance Phone: 404-982-8562

Rachel Weeks Courion® Corporation Phone: 568-661-0467

ATLANTA, Ga., May 26, 2006 - Executive Alliance, creator and provider of premium leadership-recognition forums, and Courion® Corporation, the provisioning specialist, today announced the results of a recent survey of information security executives entitled "Information Security Executives (ISEs) On the Front Lines". The survey findings offer a compelling view of trends related to planning, providing and improving information security protection within organizations. Full results of the survey will be released at the ISE New England Awards Program May 25th and at Courion's CONVERGE Customer Conference in Boston May 23-25th.

The survey report is based on responses from more than 50 active leaders in the information security community that represent some of the largest companies in the United States with 61 percent of respondents reporting greater than $1 billion in annual revenues. The survey sought to understand key initiatives of today's information security executives including:

• ISE's current role inside their organizations and how it is changing;
• Top concerns and challenges in protecting their enterprise environments;
• If information security efforts are keeping pace with growing risks

Keeping Pace

The survey revealed that today's information security executives are not only having a tough time taking a proactive stance, but are struggling to keep pace with the increasing risks to their organizations. The demands for more information and the increasing complexity of relationships between businesses and their customers, employees and third parties are a continuing challenge for executives. 49 percent of the overall respondents agree the gap continues to widen between the growing risks brought on by rapid changes in the business environment and what information security is doing to address those risks.

Business Imperative or Necessary Evil?

Although information security executives now regularly participate in strategic discussions with senior level management, many organizations still view information security as a necessary evil. While many information security executives have found their place at the executive table, 56 percent report their organizations view information security as a necessary evil, while an additional 8 percent of the respondents cite they're viewed as a pure cost center.

The cost factor continues to outweigh the positives from senior leaderships' viewpoint. However, information security executives have an entirely different perspective on their information security's importance and relevance. The majority, 96 percent, agree companies should position security as a business enabler and that earning a reputation for prioritizing security creates higher trust levels among customers, increased customer loyalty, and decreased customer turnover.

"As part of our efforts to create an ongoing dialogue with information security executives, the survey was a first step to learn what organizations are currently doing to protect their data and infrastructure from being compromised," said Marci McCarthy, CEO, Executive Alliance, Inc. "One of the key issues learned from the survey and one that we plan to keep close watch on, is the widening gap between the growing risks brought on by rapid changes in the business environment and what information security is doing to address those risks."

"It's very encouraging to learn that information security executives believe that they should be leveraged as a business enabler by their organizations and that they are increasingly being included in strategic discussions with senior levels of management," said Chris Zannetos, president and CEO, Courion. "Across our customer base we've seen organizations shift from focusing on security as an insurance policy to positioning it as a business enabler that can provide top-line revenue opportunities."

Downloads of the survey results report will be available May 26 at http://www.infosecaward.com/research/ISEs_Front_Lines.php and www.courion.com.

About Courion® Corporation

Courion's rapid business impact approach enables organizations to avoid the pitfalls of traditional user provisioning and achieve lasting business value. By eliminating dependencies, prerequisites, and other barriers to provisioning success, Courion is able to address the specific business needs of customers and provide both extensibility and adaptability to the changes that are the reality of today's business environment.  Powered by the industry's most flexible provisioning technology, Dynamic Community™ set-based Provisioning, Courion securely automates manual processes for user provisioning, audit and regulatory compliance, and password management.

About Executive Alliance

Executive Alliance is the creator and provider of premium leadership-recognition forums that honor and celebrate outstanding achievement of executives. These forums facilitate deep relationships within a network of peers; provide visibility for executives and their companies, and offer access and insight into the leaders of industries. Through an extensive platform of collaborative events, which include Industry Award Events, Summits, Executive Forums, Private Receptions and Customized Programs, Executive Alliance creates interactive assemblies for bringing together top executives and innovators in their field.

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