DesktopStandard Corporation Announces Acquisition of NeoValens

Hires three Windows desktop security experts in expansion of technology leadership team

San Diego, CA (Microsoft Management Summit, April 24, 2006) – DesktopStandard® Corporation today announced the acquisition of Windows security solutions provider, NeoValens S.A. DesktopStandard will assimilate the Luxemburg company's expertise in Windows kernel mode security solutions to expand its market- leading PolicyMaker™ family of Group Policy Extensions. NeoValens Founder and CEO, Marco Peretti, joins DesktopStandard as the Director of Security Solutions, bringing over 15 years of experience to the company's engineering team. Peretti formerly founded SecureWave, and led the development of their successful security solutions. He later started NeoValens to capitalize on growing industry recognition that least privilege end-users are essential to the success of any desktop security strategy. He has worked closely with DesktopStandard over the past two years to bring to market and then perfect his innovative concepts regarding the implementation and management of least privilege in an enterprise environment.

According to DesktopStandard CTO Eric Voskuil, “Windows Vista provides excellent security improvements for the home user and greater protection for local administrators, yet in terms of creating a least privilege environment, it has much less to offer the enterprise desktop administrator. NeoValens and DesktopStandard have pioneered this space with PolicyMaker Application Security, which has been available for over a year and supports all platforms from Windows 2000 and up. This solution has been highly successful in the corporate enterprise and has withstood tough scrutiny. We have therefore decided to acquire NeoValens and the associated patent-pending technology relating to dynamic per-process privilege management. We have had an excellent relationship with NeoValens and are excited to have Marco join our technology team.”

Darren Mar-Elia, formerly CTO for Windows Management at Quest Software, has also joined DesktopStandard – in the role of Senior Director of Product Engineering. He brings to the company 18 years of experience in IT systems and network administration architecture. At Quest he directed product strategy, acquisitions, and technical architecture for the company's fastest growing product unit. Before joining Quest, Mar-Elia directed distributed systems architecture and planning for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., leading the company's Windows NT & Windows 2000 network design and migration. Prior to this he was a senior LAN analyst at Wells Fargo Bank. He is currently a member of the JP Morgan Partners Technology Advisory Board.

Mark Heitbrink also joins DesktopStandard – in the role of Technical Expert. With over 10 years of experience training users, presenting seminars and promoting solutions in the areas of Windows Server and Group Policy he is a tremendous asset to the company’s ongoing European expansion. Heitbrink has established himself as the foremost Group Policy expert in Germany by way of his numerous publications and his popular website, www.gruppenrichtlinien.de. Both Mar-Elia and Heitbrink are Microsoft MVPs for Windows Server – Group Policy, joining fellow Group Policy MVPs Kevin Sullivan and Derek Melber.

About DesktopStandard Corporation
DesktopStandard Corporation is the leading developer of Group Policy-based enterprise desktop management products. The company has more than 3,500 customers, more than 4 million desktops under management and a worldwide network of integrators and resellers. DesktopStandard is a Microsoft Gold Certified ISV.

DesktopStandard products have won many prestigious awards, including the “Most Innovative Product of 2005” (Windows IT Pro Readers’ Choice Awards), “Most Valuable Product” (Redmond Magazine), “Best Product of 2005 - Policy Management” (MSD2D People’s Choice Security Award), and the “2004 Active Directory Product of the Year” (SearchWin2000.com).

For more information, visit www.desktopstandard.com.

DesktopStandard, PolicyMaker and GPOVault are the trademarks or registered trademarks of DesktopStandard Corporation. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.