CryptoMetrics Applauds ICAO for Winning Prestigious Award; ICAO's New Technology Working Group Wins Card Technology Breakthrough Award.

TUCKAHOE, N.Y. -- CryptoMetrics, a leading global provider of facial recognition and fingerprint biometric solutions to the government and commercial markets, today added its applause for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) being selected by Card Technology Magazine as the recipient of the Technology Breakthrough Award for introducing contactless smart card chip technology as a foundation component of the new globally standardized, face biometric enabled passport.

Exactly one year ago, ICAO formally adopted the chip empowered passport or "ePassport" as it has become known, as the new high security, globally-standardized form of passport; one carrying facial biometric details to allow positive confirmation of the presenter as the rightful holder. In adopting the ePassport as the worldwide standard, the then 188 member countries of ICAO agreed to issue their passports in conformance with the Standard by no later than April 1, 2010. During the past year, nearly 50 countries have begun implementing the ePassport, which was developed collaboratively between ICAO and the International Standards Organization (ISO).

Joel F. Shaw, Chief Strategy Officer of biometric solutions provider CryptoMetrics, stated, "The announcement of the Award to ICAO and its New Technology Working Group is a testament to the vision, authority and leadership of ICAO. It is equally a testament to the technical and standards setting competencies of ISO who contributed the technical elements such as the contactless chip, public key infrastructure (PKI) and facial biometric for the ePassport. Above all it is an acknowledgement of the foresight, skills and dedication of the people who contributed from both Organizations."

In 1968 ICAO was charged with the responsibility of defining the specifications and eventual worldwide Standard for Passports. It has since, working with ISO, expanded that mandate to embrace all forms of official travel documents - passports, visas and official documents of identity. Although the ICAO deadline for compliance is 2010, independent initiatives by various countries and regions mean that much of the world will have their new ePassport in place this year. Specifically:

Mr. Shaw, who serves as the Chairman of the Working Group created by ISO to work collaboratively with ICAO on the ePassport further commented, "A year ago I stated that the key was for nations to move quickly to commence the implementation process and put the issuance and inspection systems in place. I cautioned that it would be a big task, but an achievable one and one that would make international travel more efficient and much more secure. Today I am very pleased to see that so many countries have commenced implementation; with many already realizing the immense benefits that were a well founded vision a year ago."

CryptoMetrics recognizes the vital nature of the work of ICAO and ISO to restoration of global security. Co-CEOs Robert Barra and Michael Vitale have established support of the standardization initiative as a key component of CryptoMetrics ongoing business -- contributing to the sponsoring of important events such as the ICAO Symposium on MRTDs and the provision of the company's Chief Strategy Officer to manage ISO's contribution to the ePassport work.

About CryptoMetrics

Established in 2000, CryptoMetrics is a leading provider of biometric solutions, building and integrating state-of-the-art systems designed to proactively protect the critical infrastructure of a nation and its businesses, including vital cyber assets. As part of its portfolio, CryptoMetrics offers an extensive bi-modal array of biometric devices, software and customized services including both fingerprint and facial recognition technologies.

While CryptoMetrics' fingerprint authentication product solutions secure the transfer of and protect logical and physical points of access to critical systems and data, the Company's facial recognition products are designed to secure national borders, protect the traveling public, strengthen the security of travel and ID document issuance through comprehensive "identity management" and enhance personal identification in support of law enforcement, homeland security and first responder activities.