Tumbleweed is Member of Northrop Grumman Encore Team Selected for Defense Information Systems Agency Program

Tumbleweed to offer its software solutions and expertise in content security and policy management for email and internet usage to the Encore Information Technology Solutions team

REDWOOD CITY, CA - May 9, 2002 - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), a leading provider of secure content management for enabling the business Internet, announced today that it is a member of the Encore team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation. This team will help the Department of Defense (DoD), other federal agencies, state and local governments, and U.S. allies meet the challenges of interoperability and information integration through the Encore Information Technology Solutions contract.

The Northrop Grumman team is one of nine contractor teams selected by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to compete for Encore task orders. The program is a seven-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a maximum value of $2 billion to the various nine contractor teams chosen. Northrop Grumman estimates that Encore has a potential value of $300 million to its Information Technology (IT) sector.

"Together with our teammates, we will make Encore a success through a customer-centered approach supported by our experience, global presence, technical excellence and breadth of IT skills," said Ken Schneider, president of Defense Enterprise Solutions, Northrop Grumman Information Technology. "We have had a long and enduring relationship with DISA and through the Encore program we will continue to assist DISA's work in command and control, intelligence, mission support and the global information grid."

"We're pleased to be a Northrop Grumman teammate and join other leading technology providers to lend our expertise and software capabilities in the area of online content security, secure email and secure web usage," said Jeffrey C. Smith, Chairman & CEO of Tumbleweed Communications Corp. "Our existing relationships with various agencies within the DoD will enable us to bring our agency-focused experience to the Encore program and support our team in successfully delivering the full range of IT expertise to the government."

The Encore program contains eleven task areas: enterprise IT policy and planning; integrated solutions management; performance benchmarking; business process reengineering; requirements analysis; market research and prototyping; information and knowledge engineering; customer applications development; product integration; test and evaluation; and licensing and support.

The Northrop Grumman Encore team also includes IBM, Cisco Systems and ITS Services, Inc., as well as twenty other corporations. Work on the program will be performed in all 50 U.S. states and internationally. Northrup Grumman Information Technology is a premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. Headquartered in Herndon, the company's expertise spans such areas as information systems integration; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); enterprise hardware and software solutions; training and simulation; base and range support; signals intelligence; space systems; health informatics; and specialized scientific, engineering and technical services.

About Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of solutions for managing secure communication and collaboration to enable the business Internet. Tumbleweed's robust policy-based framework empowers organizations to safely share and protect critical information, increase customer loyalty and privacy and dramatically reduce costs. Tumbleweed is trusted by 1,000 blue-chip customers including American Express, Chevron, Datek Online, the European Union's Joint Research Council, First Union Wachovia, John Deere, Merrill Lynch, Nike, Northern Trust, NTT, Salomon Smith Barney, Travelers and US Food and Drug Administration. One hundred of the Fortune 500 are Tumbleweed customers. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., with offices around the world.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the capabilities of Tumbleweed's products and the any potential future software sales. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed's Form 10-K filed March 30, 2002. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.