Single Wave of Infrastructure Cyber Attacks Could Exceed
$700 Billion in Damages
Scotts Valley, Calif., February 5, 2010– “The Cyber Security Research and Development Act passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives is long overdue because even one cyber attack against key infrastructures could paralyze the U.S. economy,” stated Dr. Victor Larson, Director of Research and Development for VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSE Amex:VHC; www.virnetx.com), a California-based secure real-time communications company with a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-derived patented technology portfolio.
Dr. Larson pointed out that recent research by the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit (www.usccu.us), a non-profit research institute that assesses the economic impact of cyber attacks, stated that a single wave of cyber attacks on critical infrastructures could exceed $700 BILLION which is the equal of 50 hurricanes hitting America at one time.
According to Dr. Larson, “The recent cyber attacks on Google, Inc. and other U.S. companies by hackers raises the need for securing the Internet with high-level security solutions that must include new sophisticated secure communications technology. These attacks are a wakeup call for companies because security issues with the Internet could cause loss of revenue. Even more important is that lack of security is a barrier to providing products and services over the Internet which can be an important market channel. Until security issues are solved the overall growth of Internet-based commerce and services could slow.”
Larson also commented, “The real issue today is that the Internet infrastructure and the operating systems of the computers must be secured in new and fundamental ways. The present Internet was never designed with security in mind. Its overwhelming adoption for commerce and system control has attracted the criminal element. The Internet must morph into a network that has security at its core. This must be achieved seamlessly so that we transition into the next generation secure network without adversely impacting the Internet capability we currently have. The four players that will make this transition a reality are the Internet Service Providers (ISP), Cellular Phone Service Providers (CSP), the operating system providers for every Internet attached device, and the Secure Domain Name System (SDNS) that seamlessly enables authenticated secure connections between all the devices on the network.”
About VirnetX
VirnetX Holding Corporation, a secure real-time communications and collaboration technology company, is engaged in commercializing its patent portfolio by developing a licensing program, as well as developing software products designed to create a secure environment for real-time communications such as instant messaging and Voice over Internet Protocol. The Company’s patent portfolio includes over 25 U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications which specifically cover the Company’s unique GABRIEL Connection Technology. For more information, please visit http://www.virnetx.com/stagingarea.
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Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “will,” “prepared to,” or “plans” to be uncertain and forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company’s reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2009.
Contact
Greg Wood
VirnetX Holding Corporation
831.438.8200
greg_wood@virnetx.com
