PRESS RELEASE  
Kongsvinger, February 13 2003  

- Significant time-savings when erasing data

Ibas is launching a quicker version of ExpertEraser. Version 2.0 is now better adapted to the technology found in hard disks, meaning that the time spent erasing hard disks has been reduced from 5 minutes to 40 seconds per Gigabyte.

Ibas is experiencing a steady increase in the demand for data erasure services. In 2002 alone, Ibas assisted in erasing data on 60,000 PCs, and there are now a significant number of major companies that wish to delete the data on large numbers of PCs over the shortest possible time. The new version of ExpertEraser will significantly reduce the amount of time spent by its customers on erasing data.

Version 2.0 also covers newest standards

With the extremely high level of expertise among its employees, the company can continuously follow developments in the field of storage technology. Hard disks are becoming increasingly more compact -- more and more data is able to be stored, but available capacity is being pushed to the extreme limits. Hard disk standards are now developing independent of the PC-type's BIOS and operating system.

All known shareware depend on the PC's BIOS and operating system to erase hard disks, and there are a number of well-known holes in this approach. Nor is shareware regularly updated in order to take account for changes in hard disk standards. For example, shareware has problems tackling hard disks based on the new hard disk standard ATA6, and in particular larger ATA hard disks. The truth is that significant amounts of data evade the erasing procedure these programmes use.

Ibas has invested considerable resources in further developing ExpertEraser when it comes to new standards, and Version 2.0 covers the new standards ATA6/LBA 48 -- erasing 100% of both old and new hard disks.

New scandals popping up on a regular basis

MSNBC News reported February 6, that an auditor office in USA had checked a state computer from the National Health Service. A state computer put up for sale as surplus contained confidential files naming thousands of people with AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. And at a technical university in Massachusetts, USA, two students bragged about how they were in possession of significant amounts of sensitive information after having purchased used hard disks via the Internet auction company eBay.

The general impression is that PC-users are taking the problem much too lightly. The rate of upgrade to new, larger computers is greater than ever, and unless special security measures are taken, many of the old PCs will still contain information - such as detailed patient journals, confidential documents, passwords, business secrets and sensitive political documents -- that the former owners would not much like to have fall into the wrong hands.

For more information, please contact:

Tormod Nymoen, Marketing Manager in Ibas AS, phone: +47 62 81 01 00, cellular: +47 95 88 61 91, e-mail: tormod.nymoen@ibas.no

Please download a high-resolution picture of ExpertEraser 2.0 from: http://www.ibas.com/news/press_pictures/pee_software_box.jpg