ImageWare Systems Achieves NIST Certification
Certification allows company to offer Federal government agencies scalable Card Management Solution
SAN DIEGO, CA, August 10, 2006 - ImageWare® Systems, Inc. (AMEX: IW),
a leading developer and provider of identity management solutions, today announced that the company has received Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), validating the company’s IWS Card Management System (CMS) and demonstrating its ability to provide PIV solutions that can be acquired individually or deployed as a complete interoperable solution.
In direct support of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), a directive mandating a common identification standard for all Federal government employees and contractors, ImageWare addresses the requirements for deploying a smart card solution through its comprehensive and scalable smart card lifecycle management solution designed to help Federal Government agencies implement a vendor neutral, biometrically-enabled PIV solution that meets stringent requirements for functionality and interoperability of PIV cards. The IWS CMS directly connects identity business process with PIV cards representing an individual’s identity via a secure, trusted credential. Agencies can now deploy the complete IWS CMS or leverage its certified middleware to ensure that the overall card management solution will remain scalable and interoperable while working with existing smart cards.
“This certification clears the way for sales of our interoperable IWS PIV Solution to both Federal government and private sector customers,” said Jim Miller, ImageWare’s chairman and CEO. “ImageWare’s commitment to providing end-to-end, open-architected technology that is standards based, ensures that our solutions are interoperable and scalable. This enables our government and private sector customers to easily deploy identity management and credentialing systems that comply with industry standards, support their growing environment and eliminate the burden of integrating various technologies from multiple vendors.”
ImageWare’s complete IWS PIV Solution includes several enterprise applications that provide a full-lifecycle implementation of the PIV-I business process, as well as the PIV-II card usage process. The NIST certified software component is used at key locations in the process model for card production and interaction with card usage scenarios. It directly connects identity management business process tools with PIV cards that act as portable tokens and represent an individual’s identity via a secure, trusted credential.
About ImageWare Interoperable PIV Solution
IWS Card Management System™
The IWS CMS is a comprehensive solution to support and manage the issuance of smart cards complete with the following capabilities:
- Flexible models of central or distributed issuance of credentials
- Customizable card life-cycle workflow managed by the CMS
- Integration of the CMS data with other enterprise solutions, such as physical access control and logical access control (i.e. Single-Sign-On – SSO)
- Robust encoding capabilities for specific encoding of mandatory data, digital signatures and programs in order to maintain interoperability as well as the security features specified for the cards
IWS CMS includes a PIV Encoder which can be considered to be complex device driver that properly programs the PIV smart cards and interacts with the CMS for data payload elements. It interacts with the Certificate Authority to encrypt or sign the PIV smart card data with trusted certificates and properly programs the smart card regardless if the system is a standalone encoding device or one integrated into a card printer.
IWS™ Biometric Engine®
The IWS™ Biometric Engine®’s multi-biometric enrollment, management and authentication platform allows users to biometrically search and match populations of unlimited sizes for identity confirmation. Searches can be 1:1 (Verification), 1:N (Identification), X:N (Investigative) and N:N (Population Management). IWS™ Biometric Engine® is technology agnostic, enabling users to employ biometric devices and algorithms from virtually any vendor, as well as support the combination of the following biometric types, including: single fingerprint, Livescan fingerprint, 2D face, 3D face, iris, palm scan, finger vein, palm vein, hand geometry, palm, DNA, signature, voice, and retina. The IWS™ Biometric Engine® currently supports 93 devices and methods of biometric acquisition and 65 biometric algorithms.
There are two applications in the ImageWare complete PIV solution that are based upon the IWS™ Biometric Engine® – the IWS PIV Enrollment & Registration Application, and the IWS PIV-I Identity Management System (IDMS). The former supports enrollment of personnel data, breeder documents and biometrics, while the latter supplies the workflow tools, business logic and authorization model with appropriate roles and responsibilities for the identity proofing process. The IWS PIV-I IDMS specifically works with the IWS Background Check Server to integrate results from automatic identity vetting services.
IWS Background Check Server™
The IWS Background Check Server is a software application designed specifically for government and law enforcement organizations to support the first stage of biometric identity management functions such as identity proofing and vetting. IWS Background Check Server automatically processes the submission of an applicant’s demographic and biographic data to investigative bureaus for background checks prior to issuing a credential.
IWS™ PIV Management Application
ImageWare provides a set of Enterprise Server products within our complete PIV solution, and these software products supply server-based features and functions, while the use case for PIV requires client-based presentation of PIV data and workflow. The IWS PIV Management Application supplies the web-based graphical user interface that presents the user or client interface to the various server functions. Furthermore, since the server-based applications perform specific functions for specific phases of the PIV life-cycle, these server-based applications need to be bound together with additional workflow processes. Again, the IWS PIV Management Application meets this need with software modules that interface and interconnect the server-based applications.
IWS™ EPI Builder™
IWS EPI Builder is recognized as a leading secure credential component of identity management and security solutions, providing all aspects of ID functionality from image and biometric capture to the enrollment, issuance and management of secure documents. IWS EPI Builder is designed specifically to facilitate the production of high-end, secure credential systems and enables organizations to develop custom identification solutions or incorporate sophisticated identification capabilities into existing applications. Components allow users to:
- Capture image, biometric and demographic data
- Enable biometric identification and verification (1:1 and 1:X)
- Support numerous biometric hardware and software vendors
- Develop custom secure credentials
- Encode magnetic stripes, bar codes and smart chips
- Print IDs or other documents including national IDs, passports and access control credentials
IWS™ Desktop Security
IWS Desktop Security is a highly flexible, scalable and modular authentication management platform that is optimized to enhance network security and usability. This architecture provides an additional layer of security to workstations, networks and systems through advanced encryption and authentication technologies. Biometric technologies (face, fingerprint, iris, voice or signature), can be seamlessly coupled with TPM chips to further enhance corporate security. USB tokens, smart cards and RFID technologies can also be readily integrated.
IWS PrintFarm™
While it is the last stage of PIV Card Issuance, the PIV smart card printing process is by no means the least important stage. Production printing of tens of thousands of PIV cards requires a significant investment and a well-engineered system. The IWS EPI PrintFarm software offers a cost-effective yet high-performance method for high-volume card printing.
About NPIVP Certification
The objectives of the NPIVP program are to validate the compliance of two PIV components which include PIV middleware and PIV card application with the specifications in NIST SP 800-73-1, and provide assurance that the set of PIV middleware and PIV card applications are interoperable.
The IWS Card Management System is available for purchase immediately in packaged solutions from ImageWare and its partners. For more information on IWS Interoperable PIV solution, pricing and availability, please e-mail sales@iwsinc.com or call (800) 842-4199.
About ImageWare Systems, Inc.
ImageWare Systems, Inc. (AMEX:IW), is a leading developer and provider of identity management solutions, providing biometric, secure credential, law enforcement and digital imaging technologies. Scalable for worldwide deployment, the Company's biometric product line includes a multi-biometric engine that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. ImageWare's identification products are used to manage and issue secure credentials including national IDs, passports, driver licenses, smart cards and access control credentials. ImageWare's digital booking products provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint Livescan and investigative capabilities. The Company also provides comprehensive digital workflow solutions for the professional photography industry. ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Washington DC and Canada. For more information visit www.iwsinc.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are meant to convey to the public the company's progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. While management believes such representation to be true and accurate based on the information available to the company, actual results may differ materially from those described. The company's operations and business prospects are always subject to risks and uncertainties. Important facts that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the company’s periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
