[Moderator: Its amusing to see a company decalre themselves a winner
via a news outlet such as PRNewswire. While there were no doubt
several hackers running around Comdex, I think that is just about
the worst place to make a challenge like this. I was at Comdex for
all of two hours and found myself disgusted with it. I would love to
see this challenge made at something like Usenix, Defcon, or some
other outlet with a better representaiton of 'hacker' talent.]
http://nt.excite.com:80/news/pr/981124/ca-calluna-tech-wins
Calluna Technology's 'PC BODYGUARD(TM)' Wins 'Hacker's Challenge' Contest
at COMDEX Fall
SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Calluna Technology, Ltd.
reported today that its recently introduced PC BODYGUARD(TM) won the
"Hacker's Challenge" contest that it sponsored during COMDEX Fall. PC
BODYGUARD is the first PC security solution for SOHO and other users to
offer the professional level of system/data protection normally associated
with large corporate networks.
The "Hacker's Challenge" contest dared visitors to Calluna Technology's
booth to 'hack' a computer so that Windows(R) would be unable to restart
with a hard boot. To demonstrate its confidence in PC BODYGUARD, Calluna
was prepared to present the winning 'hacker' with a free one year lease on
a Humvee vehicle, or with $15,000 (equivalent cash value). As Calluna
anticipated, the powerful new technology for PC, network and Internet
security won the contest handily by withstanding nearly 1,000 attempts to
circumvent its revolutionary hardware-level protection.
The contest attracted a wide spectrum of participants throughout COMDEX
week, with technically astute computer science students, highly
experienced corporate programmers, stereo-typical 'hackers' and other
programmers all trying their best to defeat PC BODYGUARD. In one instance,
a very eccentric 'hacker' even put on gloves prior to touching the
keyboard to prohibit the lifting of his fingerprints, while another time
an entire group of students took turns trying to 'hack' the demo PC. In
another case, a contest participant tried in vain to crack PC BODYGUARD's
protection on the first day of the show, and then returned four days later
with an assembler program written by a senior software engineer that was
ultimately defeated as well.
"We are very pleased, but certainly not surprised that PC BODYGUARD was
able to withstand the PC corruption efforts of almost a thousand hackers,"
said Bruce Serpa, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Calluna
Technology, Ltd. "The standard of hackers accepting the PC BODYGUARD
Challenge at a Show like COMDEX is, of course, world-class, providing a
real, demanding test of our claims for PC BODYGUARD's effectiveness. PC
BODYGUARD's performance at COMDEX clearly demonstrates the superiority of
this advanced, hardware-level solution for PC security."
Based on Hardwall(R) Technology, Calluna's innovative new development for
PC, network, and Internet security, PC BODYGUARD provides both standalone
users and small networks with extensive hardware-level protection against
hackers, illegal access, viruses, data and system sector corruption.
Comprised of an ISA-standard expansion card and related soft-ware, PC
BODYGUARD connects between the PC's hard disk and motherboard and features
an independent micro-processor that is immune from attack by hackers or
virus. Once installed, this powerful security solution vigilantly monitors
all hard disk drive activity and uniquely protects against unauthorized
writes and accesses.
PC BODYGUARD provides unrivaled system and data protection by creating
inaccessible "hard firewalls" around user-selected partitions, only one of
which is active at any time. As such, any hacker or virus invasion is
limited to one "active partition" only.
PC BODYGUARD sells for a suggested retail price of just $199.00. Its
easily installed ISA card includes installation software and a free copy
of PartitionMagic(R) Special Edition from PowerQuest(R), which permits
even non-experts to re-partition their hard disk to utilize the Hardwall
technology.
For more information, contact Calluna Technology Inc. in the USA by phone
at 408-453-4753, Calluna Technology 's Scottish Headquarters at +44 700
CALLUNA (2255862), or visit the company's Internet Web-site at
http://www.calluna.com.
-o-
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Received on Tue Dec 8 08:56:52 1998