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TUMBLEWEED ACHIEVES LEADERSHIP POSITION IN META GROUP E-MAIL HYGIENE VENDOR COMPARISON

Report Provides In-Depth Comparisons of Product Functionality, Platform, and Corporate Profiles

Redwood City, CA — December 7, 2004 — Tumbleweed® Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: TMWD), a leading provider of e-mail and file transfer security solutions, today announced that it was named among the top vendors in META Group's recently released "E-Mail Hygiene Vendor Comparison" META Practice Report. META Group (NASDAQ: METG) is a leading research and consulting firm that focuses on information technology and business transformation strategies.

The new META Practice Report provides an objective assessment of e-mail security companies and their respective e-mail hygiene solutions. These solutions are used by organizations to protect against inbound e-mail threats like spam, viruses, phishing, directory harvest and denial of service attacks, and to provide outbound services like content filtering and message encryption to protect private or confidential information and ensure regulatory compliance.

The study focused on the top twelve companies providing hygiene solutions, comparing them across twelve key criteria covering product functionality, platform specifics, and corporate profile. Tumbleweed received the highest marks in the overall Product Functionality category with a score of 4.5 out of 5.0, including top scores of 5.0 in content filtering and secure mail functionality. In this section, META Group compared vendors on the following product functionality:

• Spam blocking
• Virus blocking
• MTA/Anomaly detection
• Secure mail
• Content filtering
• End-user controls

"We are pleased by our rating as an industry leader in the META Practice E-Mail Hygiene Vendor Comparison Report," said Jeff Smith, CEO and Chairman of Tumbleweed. "We've focused on delivering industry leading e-mail security for over ten years, and our solutions, now in their sixth generation, have been battle-tested in some of the most demanding enterprises in the Global 2000. We continue our mission to provide the most innovative, powerful e-mail solutions in the marketplace, and we’re gratified to be recognized for our efforts.”

“E-mail has become a mission-critical communications tool, and we believe that organizations must aggressively police the e-mail perimeter to ensure a stable and secure messaging infrastructure.” said Matt Cain, Senior Vice President, META Group. "Part of this effort will require organizations to conduct a thorough evaluation of mail hygiene vendors. We recommend looking for vendors offering a base e-mail hygiene platform that integrates multiple services, so that as new threats emerge, new defenses can use the underlying infrastructure already in place, such as directories, management consoles, databases, and security mechanisms. In addition, given the vast turmoil and consolidation we expect in the vendor market over the next two years, we strongly recommend looking at the base business capabilities and strengths of vendors in the selection process.”

A copy of the META Group report, "E-Mail Hygiene Vendor Comparison" (META Practice 2289, Matt Cain, November 19, 2004) is available on Tumbleweed’s Web Site at www.tumbleweed.com.

About META Group
META Group is a leading research and consulting firm, focusing on information technology and business transformation strategies. Delivering objective, consistent, and actionable guidance, META Group enables organizations to innovate more rapidly and effectively. Our unique collaborative models help clients succeed by building speed, agility, and value into their IT and business systems and processes. Connect with http://www.metagroup.com/us/home.do for more details.

About META Group’s E-mail Hygiene Vendor Comparison Report
According to META Group, threats to enterprise e-mail systems are increasing daily. Viruses are more sophisticated and increasingly destructive, and at some organizations spam volumes now comprise up to 70% of inbound SMTP traffic. Phishing attacks designed to lure users to disclose confidential information are accelerating, and port 25 vulnerabilities, including denial-of-service attacks, dictionary harvest attacks, and mail floods, are widely used by hackers and spammers. Demand is rapidly growing for e-mail content control, whether for inbound and outbound filtering of offensive material or for unauthorized disclosure of corporate intellectual property. Increased e-mail regulations are also a growing concern: HIPAA, SEC, GLB, and other regulations variously mandate encrypted e-mail and archiving or human review of messages. All this activity means that companies must take a fresh look at e-mail hygiene to ensure that mission-critical e-mail systems are stable, secure, and in compliance with appropriate regulations. To get more information on the report, go to http://www.metagroup.com/us/displayArticle.do?oid=51018.

About Tumbleweed
A leading e-mail security, file transfer security and Identity Validation company with more than 10 years in the business, Tumbleweed provides comprehensive solutions for managing mission critical data communication channels. From our e-mail security suite, point solutions for Spam, inbound and outbound filtering, to secure file transfer and certificate authentication, Tumbleweed has a variety of solutions currently used by enterprises and governments to help mitigate risk and increase network bandwidth. Tumbleweed customers include ABN Amro, Bank of America Securities, Catholic Healthcare West, JP Morgan Chase & Co., The Regence Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), St. Luke's Episcopal Healthcare System, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Navy and Marine Corps. Tumbleweed was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. For additional information about Tumbleweed go to www.tumbleweed.com or call 650-216-2000.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Tumbleweed cautions that forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on plans and expectations as of the date of the press release, and that a number of factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the guidance given 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 performance projections based on third-party assessments and reports. 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 15, 2004, Form 10-Q filed May 10, 2004, Form 10-Q filed August 12, 2004, and Form 10-Q filed November 9, 2004.

Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release, which represents the Company’s expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be viewed as a statement about the Company’s expectations after such date. Although this release may remain available on the Company’s website or elsewhere, its continued availability does not indicate that the Company is reaffirming or confirming any of the information contained herein.

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