Tumbleweed Ranked on 2002 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500 & Silicon Valley Fast 50 Lists

Secure Messaging Leader Achieves Prestigious Distinction for 2nd Straight Year

Redwood City, CA - October 29, 2002 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Tumbleweed® Communications Corp.(Nasdaq:TMWD - News), a leading provider of secure messaging applications for businesses and government agencies using the Internet, today announced that it was ranked the 108th fastest growing technology company in North America on the 2002 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500. Tumbleweed was also ranked the 32nd fastest growing tech company in the Silicon Valley on the professional services firm's current Technology Fast 50 list for the region. Both rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues for the five-year period from 1997 to 2001, in which time Tumbleweed recorded a 3,885% increase.

"We are focused on building a business for the long-term, and we're pleased with the progress as measured over a five-year time frame. We are honored to have this achievement recognized by Deloitte & Touche for the second straight year," said Jeff Smith, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Tumbleweed Communications.

"In an era where technology companies come and go, making the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 & 500 lists is a testament to a company's vision that allows growth over a five-year period," said Roy Avondet, managing partner of Deloitte & Touche's Northern California Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group. "Tumbleweed has proven that its leadership has the right stuff for growth, and we at Deloitte & Touche salute their accomplishments."

To qualify for the Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1997 and $1,000,000 in 2001, must be public or private companies headquartered in Silicon Valley, and be "technology companies" defined as companies that own proprietary technology which contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues or devotes a high percentage of effort to research and development of technology. The Fast 500 list is compiled from three sources: winners of Deloitte & Touche's 22 regional North American Fast 50 programs, nominations submitted directly to the Fast 500, and public company database research.

About Tumbleweed
Tumbleweed is a leading provider of secure messaging solutions for businesses using the 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 the U.S. 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.

About About Deloitte & Touche
Deloitte & Touche, one of the nation's leading professional services firms, provides assurance and advisory, tax, and management consulting services through nearly 30,000 people in more than 100 U.S. cities. The firm is dedicated to helping its clients and its people excel. Known as an employer of choice for innovative human resources programs, Deloitte & Touche has been recognized as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" by Fortune magazine for five consecutive years. Deloitte & Touche refers to Deloitte & Touche LLP and related entities. Deloitte & Touche is the U.S. national practice of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is a Swiss Verein, and each of its national practices is a separate and independent legal entity. For more information, please visit Deloitte & Touche's web site at www.deloitte.com/us. For more information on the Technology Fast 50 and Fast 500 programs, please visit www.fast50.com.

Tumbleweed cautions that forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on current plans and expectations, and that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made at this time. These factors are described in the Safe Harbor statement below.

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 Tumbleweed's products, the timing of new releases, and developments in the secure messaging industry. 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 and Form 10-Q filed November 14, 2002. Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.