State and Local Governments Utilizing DigitalPersona Authentication Solutions for Secure Access, Eliminating Password Management Problems 

DigitalPersona Allows Government Agencies Such as the County of San Bernardino to Cut Password-Related Help Desk Calls and Eliminate Password Complexity

July 19, 2006

REDWOOD CITY, CA — DigitalPersona, Inc., a leading provider of biometric authentication solutions for enterprise networks and commercial applications, is driving the use of fingerprint authentication solutions in state and local governments to reduce password complexity and password-related help desk calls and to simplify network access. DigitalPersona fingerprint authentication solutions are helping state and local government agencies such as the County of San Bernardino, the City of Glendale, and the Cypress Police Department meet county and city password policies and make security more convenient.

DigitalPersona's fingerprint solutions provide government agencies with the ability to replace passwords, tokens and smart cards with fingerprints to eliminate the complexity and loopholes of password- and PIN-based security. They also increase user productivity by providing quick and convenient access to information and eliminating wasted time on help desk calls spent on password resets - a common problem with state and local government agencies. DigitalPersona?s solutions allow IT departments to create audit trails that are unique to individuals.

Many county-level security policies mandate that agencies follow guidelines as to the management of password complexity such as using a combination of alpha and numeric characters. One of the biggest issues for agencies is the challenge of users forgetting these multiple-character passwords. Also, employees often compromise security by sharing passwords, writing them down or using the same passwords for multiple applications. Even additional measures, such as smart cards or tokens, can still be lost or PINs forgotten.

"State and local governments have come to trust DigitalPersona to provide reliable fingerprint sign on solutions that simplify network access for sensitive data," said George Skaff, vice president of marketing at DigitalPersona. "The use of fingerprint authentication improves security, helps achieve compliance and reduces the soaring help desk costs of password management in government."

The County of San Bernardino uses DigitalPersona fingerprint authentication in order to increase reliability and security along with providing users with quick and convenient access to network applications.

"The strongest return on our DigitalPersona" Pro investment came through a reduction in demand on our help desk, where password-related help desk calls have dropped by 90 percent," said Patrick Honny, department information services manager, County of San Bernardino, Auditor/Controller-Recorder's Office.

The City of Glendale, with 2,100 employees, is using DigitalPersona Pro to provide increased customer service, reduce support costs, and maintain tighter network security by taking the responsibility away from the end users.

"Eliminating the need to recall complex passwords has improved employee productivity with faster access to information, leading to faster customer service resulting in a drop in administrative overhead," said Stephen Richmond, security analyst, City of Glendale.

The Cypress Police Department uses DigitalPersona Pro to secure access to sensitive information by locking desktop and police car mobile computer systems when not in use, and to provide convenient, one-touch access for officers in the field to mission critical, secured databases. With over 20 passwords to remember in order to access local, state and federal databases, and then to recall those passwords when dealing with the bad guys, it makes the use of passwords a bad fit.

"After a year of testing and working with DigitalPersona, we made the purchase and are now deploying readers on desktops and in police car mobile data computers for over 60 officers," said Tom Bruce, sergeant in charge of police technology with the Cypress Police Department. "The ability for officers to have secure access to information quickly while mobile is crucial, and one touch gets us the information we need that could mean the difference of letting America's most wanted go or making the arrest."

About DigitalPersona

DigitalPersona is the leading provider of biometric authentication solutions for enterprise networks and commercial applications. Founded in 1996, DigitalPersona designs, manufactures and sells turnkey solutions that improve security and regulatory compliance while resolving password management problems. The company's fingerprint readers utilize superior optical fingerprint scanning technology, providing an unmatched ability to authenticate users more accurately and rapidly regardless of finger placement. DigitalPersona's award-winning technology is used worldwide by over 25 million people in the most diverse and challenging environments.

DigitalPersona has strategic relationships with market-leading manufacturers and resellers including Intel, Dell Inc., Microsoft, GTSI Corp. and Hewlett-Packard. DigitalPersona? Pro, the company's flagship turnkey security solution for enterprise authentication, is used by leading organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense, Cargill, Telefonos de Mexico S.A. de C.V, (TelMex), United Bankers' Bank and Sutter Health/CPMC. For more information contact DigitalPersona, Inc. at +1 650.474.4000, or visit www.digitalpersona.com.