CACE Technologies Announces GSA Schedule Listing

Government Reseller Partner Brings CACE Pilot, Shark Appliance to the Federal Marketplace

Defense News: DAVIS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CACE Technologies, hosts of the Wireshark open source project and developers of software that enhances the Wireshark user experience, today announced that its federal government reseller partner, Conquest Security, has finalized the process for adding the CACE family of products to GSA Schedule 70. The Contract Number is GS-35F-0842R. Buyers for federal agencies now can easily access GSA pricing for CACE Pilot, AirPcap, TurboCap, and the Shark Appliance through GSA Advantage, the online marketplace for GSA Schedule products and services.

“In our pre-launch plans for the Shark Distributed Monitoring System, we searched for a knowledgeable partner in the federal government space that could introduce the SDMS product family and all of our technology to the vast number of potential customers there,” states John Bruno, CACE Technologies CEO. “Conquest Security was recommended to us, and has proven to be a solid marketing force and advocate. They helped lead us through the maze of the government procurement process and applied their expertise to add our products to their GSA Schedule. Placement on this schedule is a major advantage for our business.”

“Network and Information Security engineers from nearly every federal government agency use Wireshark as their network and protocol analyzer of choice,” said Mark Williamson, Conquest Security CTO. “CACE Technologies has responded to the requirements of the market by providing excellent commercial support and advanced systems for distributing the power and flexibility of Wireshark to the entire networking infrastructure.”

Acknowledged as the world’s most popular and widely-deployed analyzer, Wireshark enjoys over 500,000 downloads per month.

About GSA Schedules and Contracts

The use of the GSA schedule system as a quick, efficient buying mechanism for federal government agencies is steadily increasing. Today, GSA schedules are the favored purchasing mechanism for most federal buyers and an ideal sales and closing vehicle for vendors.

About Conquest Security

Conquest Security is an information security consulting firm serving government and commercial enterprise organizations. Our holistic approach to information security emphasizes good systems management, automated security controls, continuous testing, and education. Our goal is to help our clients focus on their greatest information security risks, defend against attacks and exploitations, improve systems availability and resiliency, and reduce costs. Founded in 2005 and based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Conquest Security is anSBA 8(a) Certified Business. For more information, visit www.conquestsecurity.com.

About CACE Technologies

CACE Technologies is a creative group of product designers and engineers specializing in networking solutions designed to enhance the Wireshark user experience. Experts in Windows device driver and network monitoring tools development, CACE' core engineering team includes the creators of Wireshark and WinPcap, premier open-source tools for protocol analysis and packet capture. For more information, visithttp://www.cacetech.com/.

Contact:

CACE Technologies
Janice Spampinato, 530-758-2790 x111
janice@cacetech.com

Obama, Karzai to hold fence-mending talks

* Karzai to get red-carpet treatment

* Obama's war strategy at stake

By Matt Spetalnick

Defense News: WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hosts Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House on Wednesday for a show of wartime unity to turn the page on months of strained relations.

Karzai's red-carpet treatment will seal the Obama administration's abandonment of a publicly tough approach to the Afghan leader, widely believed to have backfired and made Karzai more resistant to U.S. pressure.

GETTY IMAGES 13 HOURS AGO

WASHINGTON - MAY 11: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) and Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) speak to the media prior to a bilateral meeting at the State Department May 11, 2010 in Washington, DC. Karzai was in Washington for talks with U.S. officials regarding relations between the two countries. He will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday.

Talks with Obama, the centerpiece of Karzai's four-day visit, follow meetings with other top U.S. officials to patch over differences at a pivotal time in the nearly nine-year-old war in Afghanistan.

Washington criticized Karzai openly in recent months for tolerating government corruption and the Afghan leader lashed back with a series of anti-Western diatribes.

While U.S. concerns about corruption have not vanished, Obama's administration is now making a concerted effort to handle such matters in private and treat Karzai with more respect in public. Washington is mindful that alienating Karzai would risk the support they need from Afghans to make the U.S. war strategy work.

Karzai's visit comes as the U.S. military gears up to complete a troop buildup in Afghanistan in a bid to beat back a resurgent Taliban, stabilize the country and then fulfill Obama's pledge to start bringing troops home in July 2011.

Seeking to ease Karzai's worries about the withdrawal timetable, Obama will reinforce his aides' promise of a long-term U.S. commitment to Afghanistan.

"As we look toward a responsible, orderly transition in the international combat mission in Afghanistan, we will not abandon the Afghan people," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Karzai on Tuesday.

But many Afghans are bound to be skeptical, recalling how the United States turned its back on them following the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan in 1989.

U.S. WARY OF TALIBAN RECONCILIATION

Obama, meanwhile, will be looking for reassurance from Karzai that an emerging effort toward reconciliation with the Taliban will be done in consultation with Washington to avoid compromising the war effort.

The U.S. administration remains wary of overtures to the former Taliban rulers, who were toppled in a U.S.-led invasion after harboring the al Qaeda leadership responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

As he seeks to rebuild trust with Karzai, Obama's challenge will be to forge a closer personal relationship. He broke with the chummier style of his predecessor, George W. Bush, and opted for an arms-length approach.

The contrast was on full display last May when Karzai had to share the White House spotlight with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, and again in March when Obama paid a brief, subdued visit to Kabul to lecture Karzai on corruption.

Karzai's second visit to the Obama White House is expected to be a markedly different story.

Obama will host Karzai for much of the day, including a joint news conference at the White House, an honor reserved for the most trusted U.S. allies.

While there will be public handshakes and smiles, Obama's aides said he would make clear to Karzai behind closed doors that more needs to be done to tackle corruption. Anticipating the pressure, Karzai said on Tuesday his government would do its part to "build its institutions."

Karzai's recent outbursts were seen as calculated in part to show the Afghan public he is no U.S. puppet. He is expected to press Obama on civilian casualties which have undermined public trust in foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Obama will also be playing to a domestic audience, a public weary of what was supposed to be a "good war" compared to the more unpopular conflict in Iraq.

The Democratic president wants to keep Afghanistan from becoming another drag on his party in pivotal congressional elections in November. Voter anxiety over high unemployment and a fragile economy is already expected to take a toll. (Additional reporting by Sue Pleming and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; editing by Chris Wilson)

Ness Technologies Awarded $3.2 Million Outsourcing Contract by Israel's Fattal Hotels Chain

Defense News: TEL AVIV, Israel, May 12, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ness Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTC - News), a global provider of IT services and solutions, announced today that it has been awarded an multi-year outsourcing contract valued at 12 million New Israeli Shekel (NIS), or approximately $3.2 million, by Israel'sFattal Hotels Chain. The new contract is a renewal and expansion of a previous contract.

Recently Fattal Hotels acquired Azorim Tourism, adding 9 hotels of the Sheraton Group and 3 hotels of the Accor group to its portfolio in Israel. Following the acquisition, Fattal became Israel'slargest hotel chain with 29 hotels across Israel. In addition, Fattal manages 30 hotels in Europe. The outsourcing contract includes the chain's unified IT system in Israel.

Under the terms of the contract, Ness Technologies operates and maintains Fattal's IT systems 24/7, including applications and infrastructure systems (software and hardware) as well as the chain's communication network and information security. Ness is also responsible for maintenance of Fattal's servers hosted at Med-1, a leading Israeli supplier of collocation and IT room hosting solutions. In addition, Ness Technologies' Unified Reference and Delivery (URD) Center, Israel's largest outsourcing helpdesk center, serves as Fattal Hotels' helpdesk, supporting hundreds of users across Israel.

"The outsourcing of our IT activities to Ness Technologies enables us to focus on our core business and improve our customer service and satisfaction, ensuring our guests' complete enjoyment," said Gadi Priewer, General Manager of Fattal Hotels. "As part of the outsourcing contract, Ness will support our reservations system, which is critical to our business, and will enable us to maintain a high operational performance level in service, quality and efficiency."

"The new contract reflects Fattal's trust in Ness' capabilities and skills, as well as in Ness' expertise and experience in managing complex outsourcing projects, including the maintenance of key operational business systems," said Effi Kotek, President of Ness Israel. "Fattal is Israel's largest hotel chain and we are committed to providing the best service, enabling Fattal to deliver the optimal service level to their customers."

About Ness Technologies

Ness Technologies (NASDAQ:NSTC - News) is a global provider of IT and business services and solutions with specialized expertise in software product engineering; and system integration, application development, consulting and software distribution. Ness delivers its portfolio of solutions and services using a global delivery model combining offshore, near-shore and local teams. With about 7,800 employees, Ness has operations in North America, Europe, Israel and India, has customers in over 20 countries, and partners with numerous software and hardware vendors worldwide. For more information about Ness, visithttp://www.ness.com.

About Fattal Hotels

Fattal hotels is the largest hotel management company in Israel, managing 29 hotels in Israel and 30 hotels inEurope, with leading brand names such as Meridien, Golden Tulip, Club Med Eilat, Magic and Leonardo Hotels. All Fattal hotels are characterized by a high level of service and a firm commitment to our guests' total enjoyment. Fattal currently employs 7,200 staff members in Israel and 1,800 in Europe. For more information about Fattal Hotels visit http://www.fattal.co.il/IndexLtr.aspx.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often are preceded by words such as "believes," "expects," "may," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "assumes," "will" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this press release, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Ness' actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward looking statements as a result of various factors. Some of the factors that could cause future results to materially differ from the recent results or those projected in forward-looking statements include the "Risk Factors" described in Ness' Annual Report of Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2010. Ness is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of such changes, new information, subsequent events or otherwise.

    Media Contact:
    David Kanaan
    Intl: +972-54-425-5307
    Email: media.int@ness.com

    Investor Relations Contact:
    Drew Wright
    USA: +1-201-488-3262
    Email: investor@ness.com

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Emirates airline year profit up five-fold

* Airline sees double digit growth in 2010-2011 - CEO

* Carrier expects to announce more aircraft orders

Defense News: DUBAI, May 12 (Reuters) - Emirates airline, the Arab world's largest carrier, reported a five-fold rise in full-year profits on Wednesday and said it expected passenger and cargo volumes to grow this year.

The Dubai-based airline had a net profit of 3.5 billion dirhams ($952.9 million) in the year ended March 31, up from 686 million dirhams in the prior year.

"The group will continue to achieve double digit growth through 2010-2011," Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, Emirates chairman and chief executive, told reporters.

The airline, which has $55 billion in equipment orders with Airbus (EAD.PA) and Boeing (BA.N), said it would take delivery of seven additional A380s and one Boeing 777 in 2010-2011.

Sheikh Ahmed said the airline planned to announce new aircraft orders, likely at the Farnborough airshow, and was in talks with both manufacturers.

Middle Eastern airlines saw the highest growth rate of 11.2 percent in air passenger traffic for 2009, and their peers in other parts of the world are expected to post total 2010 losses of $2.8 billion, according to industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA). ($1=3.673 Uae Dirham) (Reporting by Tamara Walid; Writing by Amran Abocar; editing by Karen Foster)

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