VASCO Data Security celebrates first anniversary of Access Key II; ships over 75,000 units in first 12 months

Business Wire, Oct 17, 1995

LOMBARD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 1995--VASCO Corp. (VASCO) announced Tuesday that its subsidiary, VASCO Data Security Inc. (VDSI), shipped in excess of 75,000 units of Access Key II in the 12-month period since its first commercial shipment in September 1994.

VDSI has sheduled an additional 36,000 units for shipment during the balance of the fourth quarter of 1995, representing a marked increase in the average monthly shipment rate of 6,250 in the first year to 15,000 units per month in the fourth quarter.

With its previously announced 67% increase in manufacturing capacity, VDSI has recently established two east coast sales offices in Severna Park, Md., and Reston, Va., to support continuing domestic growth due to the state and federal government sectors and corporate America becoming more information security conscious.

The popularity of Access Key II has been driven by practical, yet vital applications such as corporate banking, home banking, electronic funds transfer, U.S. government, remote inquiries of corporate databases, and other secured transactions requiring extended user authentication.

Access Key II and the first generation product Access Key have been integrated into various European installations since the mid-1980s in response to the need for heightened levels of security, in part due to the complexities of international financial transactions and the potential threat of employee information sabotage and theft of sensitive corporate information.

Access Key II (as well as the VDSI International SmartCard Reader) has particular appeal to Network Security officers and administrators because the VDSI hardware products are platform independent and integrate directly with native security software.

Access Key II is VDSI's response to the growing demand for improved password security in single sign-on systems "Access Key II is critical to the successful implementation of the emerging single sign-on solutions. These solutions eliminate the need for users to re-verify their identity as they access various systems within large computer networks.

"Therefore, it is of vital importance that users are identified properly when first accessing the network. The risk of relying on traditional password controls, long known to be inadequate, is now simply too high to ignore," said John Haggard, president of VASCO Data Security Inc.

Access Key II is a rugged, high-quality pocket-sized device with an LCD display and numeric keypad which incorporates "2-factor authentication" when using the PIN function. Access Key II uses a patented optical challenge and response system for increased security on computer networks.

The key optically reads a flashing challenge displayed on the computer screen or the user may enter via the numeric keypad on the key itself for remote usage. In both bases, Access Key II generates a unique password with each use, making password protection easy and more secure. An innovative network access security solution, Access Key II eliminates the need to remember computer passwords, making it ideal for dial-in network security applications.

VASCO and VDSI improve the productivity and profitability of their clients through consulting, training and the application of technology. VDSI designs, develops and markets a family of hardware and software security products used to manage and protect access to a wide-range of computer-based information resources. VDSI's patented and proprietary products provide computer security, Extended User Authentication (EUA), and virus protection for financial institutions, industry and government.

VASCO Corp.'s stock is traded on the Electronic Bulletin Board market system with the symbol VASC.

CONTACT: VASCO Corp., Lombard

Ken Hunt, 708/495-0755

fax: 708/495-0279

email: tkh@vasco.com

world-wide web address: http://www.vdsi.com