Identicator to Deliver Biometric Template for U.S. Government.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 22, 1998-- Identicator Technology today announced that it is delivering a biometric fingerprint template which will be used to provide U.S. government agencies with a common authentication protocol to register and identify federal employees and military personnel.

The delivery of this template is to encourage the government effort to expand the use of biometrics in federal agencies and the military sector and mirrors a similar private sector effort in which Identicator, Microsoft, IBM, Compaq, Novel and Micros are working to deliver a standard biometric template for e-commerce and other commercial market segments.

Identicator is delivering the template in cooperation with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Security Agency (NSA), both of which are long-time Identicator customers. The NSA and DOD will both assist Identicator in its efforts to test and refine the template to improve accuracy, ease of use and sensor hardware compatibility.

"We're very pleased to provide a biometric standard for the federal government," said Paul Collier, Identicator's Director of Operations. "Because of its small size - less 150 bytes - the template will provide a significant advantage for the federal government by making it possible to accurately identify a fingerprint in less than a second. The small size also allows the government to store the template on smart-cards, or as a two-dimensional bar code."

Identicator developed a similar template for use with the stored value smart-card systems deployed for the U.S Treasury Department's implementation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Under this system, recruits receive their salary deposited into their smart cards as cash. Using a point-of-sale system known as the DFR-200, a scanner designed to capture a finger image with optimum speed and accuracy, coupled with application software developed by Identicator Technology, recruits can purchase merchandise at the various PX stations. The fingerprint of the recruit is requested upon the transaction, which unlocks the smart card enabling the sale to occur. This project won the 1998 CardTech Secure Tech Smart-Card Industry Association security award.

Identicator templates are also in use in many government and military programs, including the U.S. Department of Defense's Real-time Automated Personnel Information System (RAPIDS) and Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS). With RAPIDS, military reserve units can access the DEERS system to update information and eligibility for military benefits for Guards, Reservists and their families, and can issue identification cards in a time efficient manner. This program employs over 1,300 terminals and servers worldwide and is used to register over 6 million military personnel.

"Our relationship with the government, and the NSA in particular, dates back more than five years," Collier noted. "We understand government requirements and challenges better than any other biometrics company in the industry and we're well positioned to help them develop biometric standards." About Identicator Technology

Identicator Technology was founded in 1971 and is the world leader in biometrics fingerprint minutiae technology. The company designs and develops proprietary, cost-effective, finger minutiae products and solutions for personal identification and verification. The company is a founding member of the BioAPI consortium. Along with partners including Compaq, Microsoft, IBM, Micros and Novel, the goal is to establish leadership industry standards for biometric-oriented Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) technology worldwide.

Identicator Technology installations include: Spanish Social Services involving 7 million smart cards and 650 ATM machines, which won the prestigious annual CardTech/SecurTech award in 1996; State of Georgia drivers' license bureaus with over 4 million licenses; the US treasury electronic payment systems which also won the CardTech/SecurTech award in 1998; and numerous U.S Departments of Defense and Justice facilities including the FBI.

Additional information can be found at www.identicator.com.