Proofpoint Honored for Excellence in Advancing State-of-the-Art Protection from Targeted Attacks, Meeting Market Needs with Cloud-Based Data Protection Suite

SUNNYVALE, Calif . – October 10, 2012 – Proofpoint, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT), a leading security-as-a-service provider, today announced it was awarded the 2012 Product Differentiation Excellence Award for Email Content Security by Frost & Sullivan, based on findings from the industry analyst firm’s recent best practices research. As part of its evaluation, Frost & Sullivan considered all on-premises software/appliance, virtual, and cloud-based email security providers. After careful analysis, Frost & Sullivan concluded that Proofpoint achieved the strongest product differentiation in the past year.

"Vendors in this market face ever-evolving customer demands in terms of malware prevention, blocking targeted attacks and meeting government compliance and data protection regulations," said Ben Ramirez, Network Security, Information & Communication analyst for Frost & Sullivan. "Proofpoint is at the forefront of meeting these challenges with innovative cloud-based solutions such as Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection, which provides robust and unique protection against spear phishing, malware and targeted spam attacks against customers’ corporate email systems."

To read Frost & Sullivan's complete analysis of Proofpoint and the criteria for the Product Differentiation Excellence Award, please visit: http://www.proofpoint.com/product-excellence-award

The Frost & Sullivan award recognizes the unique features and functionality of Proofpoint's security solutions as well as the company's ability to meet the needs of target markets, including financial services and healthcare.

According to Frost & Sullivan, "Proofpoint addresses financial services and healthcare needs by offering an integrated suite of on-demand protection options, spanning threat management, regulatory compliance, archiving and governance, and secure communication. "Customers such as Guaranty Bank, AON Corporation, Grant Thornton, Zions Bank, Amalgamated Life, and Wedbush rely on Proofpoint's ability to meet their demanding security requirements. Proofpoint’s customer base includes four of the five largest U.S. retailers, four of the five largest U.S. defense contractors, and three of the five largest global pharmaceutical companies."

Frost & Sullivan also lauds Proofpoint for its focus on brand perception, noting the company's continuing focus on customer service and satisfaction, expanding global reach, and commitment to growing brand perception as a product differentiation leader.

For more information about Proofpoint solutions, please visit http://www.proofpoint.com.

About Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ:PFPT) is a leading security-as-a-service provider that focuses on cloud-based solutions for threat protection, compliance, archiving & governance and secure communications. Organizations around the world depend on Proofpoint’s expertise, patented technologies and on-demand delivery system to protect against phishing, malware and spam, safeguard privacy, encrypt sensitive information, and archive and govern messages and critical enterprise information. More information is available at www.proofpoint.com.

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Proofpoint and Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection are trademarks or registered trademarks of Proofpoint, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.