AuthenTec Augments Momentum with Key Executive Appointments; Sales and Marketing Changes Will Strengthen Worldwide Leadership Position in Fingerprint Biometric Technology Industry.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

MELBOURNE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2001

AuthenTec, the leader in advanced biometric fingerprint semiconductor technology, today announced three strategic sales and marketing appointments to further enhance the Company's global sales presence and to address the sharp increase in worldwide demand for fingerprint identification technology.

"Over the last few months, AuthenTec has achieved high-profile successes with major design wins and product introductions in the personal computer and access control markets," said Scott Moody, President and CEO of AuthenTec. "In order to keep pace with market demand, we have expanded our sales and marketing team so that we may aggressively pursue an increased number of customer prospects on a global basis."

The following appointments are paramount to achieve this goal:

Dave Esto has been appointed Vice President of Business Development. Over the last two years at AuthenTec, Mr. Esto successfully designed and implemented the Company's sales strategy while spearheading several of AuthenTec's high-profile sales successes. In addition to his responsibilities for overall sales management, Mr. Esto has worked closely with members of AuthenTec's Solution Provider Network (SPN) in the implementation of complete solutions for end customers. In his new role, Mr. Esto will focus on broadening the Company's presence in the access control market, as well as increasing its number of strategic relationships within the internet security infrastructure market.

Bill Dennehy has been hired as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Mr. Dennehy joins AuthenTec from CP Clare where he was the Vice President of Sales and Corporate Marketing and was responsible for a worldwide network of direct sales personnel, manufacturing representatives, and distributors. Prior to joining CP Clare in 1999, Mr. Dennehy spent seven years with Harris Semiconductor (now Intersil) where he was instrumental in initiating a strategic accounts focus, and, subsequently, for securing major account design wins for Harris' new PRISM 802.11 WLAN chipset. Before Harris, Mr. Dennehy worked at Sipex where he served as Vice President of Marketing.

Jim Martin has been appointed Director of European Sales. Mr. Martin has held a number of positions while at AuthenTec including Director of Operations and Strategic Agreements. Most recently, Mr. Martin has concentrated his efforts on European sales and has secured several significant agreements for the Company. With these successes and the increased demand for the Company's premier TruePrint(TM) technology-based products, AuthenTec has asked Mr. Martin to concentrate on extending the Company's outreach in Europe.

About AuthenTec

AuthenTec is a leading semiconductor company providing advanced biometric fingerprint sensors to the PC, wireless, PDA, access control and automotive markets. AuthenTec's FingerLoc and EntrePad product families utilize the Company's patented TruePrint(TM) technology, the first technology capable of imaging everyone under virtually any condition. TruePrint images below the surface layer of the skin to the live layer where the true print resides, thereby eliminating surface-level contamination issues. AuthenTec's products are the choice of leading industry hardware and software providers, ensuring compatibility across multiple platforms and applications. Based in Melbourne, Florida, AuthenTec has assembled a global network of partners, solution providers and customers including Texas Instruments, Acer, Synaptics, Asus, Harris Corporation and SCM Microsystems.

For more information, visit: http://www.authentec.com or call [phone].

EntrePad, TruePrint, and FingerLoc are trademarks of AuthenTec, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks referenced herein are properties of their respective owners.