Northrop Grumman Information Technology and Identix Selected to Participate In Testing and Evaluation for Fingerprint Biometric Smart Cards For Defens

28 August, 2002

By: John Wehr

category: Biometrics, Contactless, Education

MINNETONKA, Minn., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ –Identix Incorporated (Nasdaq: IDNX) and Northrop Grumman Information

Technology (IT) announced today that the two companies have delivered to the
Department of Defense (DoD) technical demonstrations to test and evaluate
biometric technology as an added layer of security for the DoD’s new
department-wide Common Access Card. Northrop Grumman IT is a division of
Northrop Grumman Corporation, the $18 billion global aerospace and defense
company.

The DoD’s “Common Access Card” (CAC) is intended to be the standard
identification card for all active-duty military personnel, Selected Reserve
and National Guard, as well as the Department’s civilian employees and
eligible contractors. The CAC is a smart card with an embedded computer chip
that will be used to enable authenticated and authorized physical access to
installations, buildings, and controlled spaces. Additionally, the CAC will
provide authenticated and authorized access to military computer networks and
systems. Over 800,000 cards have been issued to date, with distribution
expected to exceed four million in the next two years.

Northrop Grumman IT and Identix have been asked to integrate fingerprint
biometrics into a standard offering for testing and evaluation for the federal
government’s smart ID card platform. According to recent DoD request for
proposals, the Department of Defense has deemed the use of minutia-based
fingerprint biometrics as the standard for military and federal civilian smart
card ID badges. During the course of the technical demonstrations, Northrop
Grumman IT and Identix integrated and documented several scenarios for
authenticating individuals with intelligent smart cards, including template
and match on card (TOC and MOC).

DoD continues to test and evaluate the solutions that have been delivered.
The nature and extent of continued work is expected to be determined by DoD in
November.

Bob Wilberger, director, Smart Card Solutions for Northrop Grumman IT,
said, “Having a Defense Department and GSA standard protocol for integrating
biometrics and smart cards should go a long way to speeding the deployment of
this much needed technology throughout government and corporate entities.
Identix brings their biometric technology expertise into this solution and we
look forward to working with them.”

“We see a clear correlation between the results of the technical
demonstrations and meeting the demand for smart IDs in a variety of homeland
security applications,” said Identix President and CEO Dr. Joseph J. Atick.
“We look forward to working closely with Northrop Grumman IT to enhance the
security and functionality of its Smart ID cards and to provide solutions for
government and corporate entities alike.”

About Northrup Grumman

Northrop Grumman IT is a premier provider of advanced IT solutions,
engineering and business services for government and commercial clients.
Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company’s expertise spans such areas
as information systems integration; command, control, communications,
computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); enterprise
hardware and software solutions; training and simulation; base and range
support; signals intelligence; space systems; health informatics; and
specialized scientific, engineering and technical services. For more
information about Northrop Grumman IT, visit the company’s Web site at
http://www.northropgrummanit.com .

About Identix Incorporated

Identix Incorporated (Nasdaq: IDNX), recently merged with Visionics
Corporation, is the world’s leading multi-biometric security technology
company. The company’s broad range of fingerprint and facial recognition
technology offerings empower the identification of individuals who wish to
gain access to information or facilities, conduct transactions and obtain IDs.
Additionally, the company’s products and solution offerings can help identify
those who perpetrate fraud and otherwise pose a threat to public safety.
Identix’ products serve a broad range of industries and market segments –
most notably, government and law enforcement, aviation, financial, healthcare
and corporate enterprise. In addition, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary,
Identix Public Sector, Inc. (IPS) provides project management and facilities
engineering services to the government sector.

More information on Identix can be accessed via the Company web site at
http://www.identix.com .

The statements in this release that relate to future plans, events or
performance are forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s current
expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic
conditions. Such statements are made in reliance on the safe harbor
provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934. Identix cautions investors that any forward looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in such forward looking statements.
Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and
uncertainties associated with or arising out of or related to: integration of
the two companies following the merger with Visionics Corporation, development
of the marketplace for biometrics solutions; demand for Identix’ products and
services; the ability of the Identix’ alliances to succeed and in particular,
the ability of Identix to complete product development, successfully
manufacture its products in volume and broadly disseminate its products;
increasing levels of competition; availability of funding from government and
commercial customers; and other risks as identified in the Identix’ SEC
filings. Identix disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update
these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

For further information, please contact: media, Frances Zelazny,
+1-201-332-9213, [email protected]; or Meir Kahtan, +1-212-699-6065,
[email protected]; or investors, Damon Wright, +1-952-979-8485,
[email protected], all for Identix Incorporated.

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