Red Hat Joins Forces with Dell, Public- and Private-Sector Leaders To Launch First Open Source Security Summit

Red Hat, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), the world's premier open source and Linux provider, today announced the first Open Source Security Summit. The Security Summit will take place at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. on October 29, and will be cohosted by Dell.

The Security Summit will provide an open forum to discuss and explore how Open Source technologies, methodologies, tools, and support processes meet the challenges of securing networks and computer systems.

said Paul Cormier, executive vice president of Engineering at Red Hat. "Solutions which are architected using open source technologies are meeting the challenges of securing systems and delivering to customers the highest level of security. Many of these open source technologies are in production today."

The Open Source Security Summit programme will feature a global list of industry experts, including:

• Marcus Sachs, the White House Office of Cyberspace Security
• Bill Caelli, Queensland School of Software Engineering and Data Communications
• Rob Walker, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
• Steve Christey, MITRE Corporation
• Shawn Hernan, CERT Coordination Center

Keynote speakers, panelists and attendees will explore the assertion that the open source development model - based on code access, community resources and peer-to-peer design review - results in a more secure software product. Other topics to be discussed include:

• Security innovation and homeland defense
• Mandates of the open source community in relation to software integrity, design quality and responsiveness
• Impact of collaboration and standardisation on vulnerability, accountability, and responsiveness.

said Stacey Quandt, Giga Group, a leading IT industry analyst. "Newspaper headlines on security vulnerabilities in many of the markets established by proprietary operating environments underscore the fact that hackers can and do find and exploit back doors and code vulnerabilities. Today some of the most secure operating systems are based on the Open Source model. The question begs how can you be sure that your environment is secure if you are running a proprietary operating system that cannot be examined or verified for secure coding?"

said Tom Buchsbaum, vice president, Defense and Intelligence Systems at Dell. "Red Hat and Dell are committed to helping customers achieve highly-secure IT environments using standards-based technologies, while continuing to reduce total cost of ownership."

said Shawn Hernan, team leader of vulnerability handling, CERT Coordination Center, the nation's first and best-known computer emergency response team. "The industry can benefit by tearing down the walls that have prevented the flow of information in the past and the open source community can help lead the way."

For more information or to register for the Summit visit http://www.redhat.com/summit/security.

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world's premier open source and Linux provider. Red Hat is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Its European headquarters is based in Surrey, UK, with offices throughout Europe Please visit Red Hat on the Web at http://www.europe.redhat.com

###

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release that are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, management's plans and objectives for future operations, and management's assessment of market factors, constitute forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, reliance upon strategic relationships, management of growth, the possibility of undetected software errors, the risks of economic downturns generally, and in Red Hat's industry specifically, the risks associated with competition and competitive pricing pressures, the viability of the Internet, and other risks detailed in Red Hat's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.