Verizon Technology Unit Receives Prestigious Cogswell Security Awards

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - BBN Technologies, a part of Verizon Communications, has received the Department of Defense (DoD) James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award in 2000 for outstanding implementation and maintenance of rational, cost-effective security measures. BBN Technologies' research and development facilities in San Diego, Calif., and Arlington, Va., were both recognized with this award.

The award, administered by the Defense Security Service, was established in 1966 as the "Industrial Security Award for Excellence." The Cogswell Award is named to honor the first chief of the Office of Industrial Security, Col. James S. Cogswell, who established many of the basic principles forming the National Industrial Security Program.

The award review process is a rigorous one and companies are evaluated in four different areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus and results. Out of approximately 12,000 DoD cleared facilities, only one-half of one percent received this prestigious award. This is the third time that BBN Technologies has won the Cogswell Award. The BBN Technologies facilities and managers honored with awards, this year, are:

"BBN Technologies is proud to be recognized by receiving the Cogswell award at two of its facilities," said Tad Elmer, President BBN Technologies, "Such sustained excellence in industrial security can only be achieved through a team effort and awareness of and adherence to the policies and practices involved."

For over 50 years, the name BBN Technologies has been synonymous with technical diversity and innovation. BBN Technologies has pioneered a number of firsts: the development of the ARPANET, the forerunner of today's Internet; the first packet switch; the first router; and the first network e-mail using the @ sign. BBN Technologies also designed, built and operated the Defense Data Network. Today, BBNT Solutions LLC ("BBN Technologies") is owned by Verizon Technology Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, the national telecommunications company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. BBN Technologies continues to conduct leading-edge research and development of advanced technology solutions for the information age. These technology areas include system integration; distributed, collaborative applications; speech recognition; wireless and satellite networking; network architecture and management; information security; structural acoustics; sensor signal processing; and real-time, multiprocessor systems. BBN Technologies received the 1999 IEEE Corporate Innovation Recognition Award for "pioneering contributions to computer networking technology through the development of the first packet switch, the ARPANET Interface Message Processor, and the Terminal Interface Message Processor." More information about BBN Technologies can be found at http://www.bbn.com.

Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with more than 100 million access line equivalents and 25.6 million wireless customers. A Fortune 10 company with more than 260,000 employees and approximately $60 billion in 1999 revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com .