AssureTec Awarded Patent for Its Groundbreaking Identity-Document Authentication System

Business Wire, Sept 7, 2004

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- AssureTec Systems of Manchester, N.H. Awarded U.S. Patent Number 6,785,405 Covering "Apparatus and Method for Document Reading and Authentication"

Company Expects Several Pending Patents to be Awarded Soon

AssureTec Systems, Inc. has been awarded a U.S. patent for its high-tech identity-document (ID) authentication system, which is capable of automatically validating thousands of document types - including drivers' licenses, passports, visas and national ID cards. The system is also capable of extracting information from IDs for examination against security databases and watch lists.

The patent (US Patent and Trademark Office - number 6,785,405 - "Apparatus and method for document reading and authentication") covers AssureTec's AssureID system and its integral i-Dentify reader-authenticator. AssureTec also expects several pending patents to be awarded soon.

How The AssureID System Works

The AssureID system classifies and authenticates documents without operator intervention by utilizing its internal knowledgebase, which includes identification and authentication criteria for virtually all North American drivers' licenses and the vast majority of the world's passports - even if the items do not comply with international standards for machine-readable documents. The knowledgebase also includes document characteristics for numerous other government- and state-issued IDs and visas.

AssureTec has compiled and maintains the secure, encrypted knowledgebase with cooperation from a number of worldwide governments and agencies.

In essence, the AssureID system substantially enables all IDs to become "machine-readable." It can accurately recognize any ID document in its knowledgebase in about one second or less. Moreover, ID data can be quickly extracted regardless of the location, font, code, or background, while image and graphic information such as photos or fingerprints are automatically located and extracted.

The system uses multiple light sources, as well as calibrated color/monochrome digital imaging and proprietary processing algorithms to validate an ID's built-in security attributes, including: Ultraviolet A and Ultraviolet B features, near-infrared response symbols, distinct graphic patterns, optically-variable devices like holograms, layout geometry, and data-correlation items. The system's extensive built-in image processing capabilities can even detect if a document has been altered and verify that its material properties are intact and certifiable.

Once the system has extracted and analyzed an ID's data, it then applies what the company calls "internal-security paradigms" that assess the probability that the document is authentic and unaltered. If desired, the captured information can also be used to search watch lists, stolen-document lists and biometrics databases. The combined results of this document-evaluation and external-database comparison is a "score" that relates directly to the risk of potential identity fraud.

"This patent is the first of several pending applications that we expect to be awarded both in the U.S. and other countries for our truly unique approach to identity fraud detection," says Bruce Reeves, CEO of AssureTec Systems, Inc. "It caps off a terrific summer for us that has included several airport deployments as part of the Transportation Security Administration's Pilot Registered Traveler Program, and a recently announced pilot program with The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles."

About AssureTec Systems

AssureTec Systems develops real-time identity-management security solutions for border management, transportation security, financial services and other commercial markets -- while managing and protecting personal privacy in the process. Its products, which include the AssureID(TM) system, reduce identity fraud through automated I.D. classification, rules-based biometrics, document-authentication tools and keyless-entry data interfaces. The company is based in Manchester, N.H. For more information, visit: www.assuretec.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, as defined in the Securities Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results may differ from AssureTec Systems' expectations on a negative or positive basis and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, competition with larger companies, development of and demand for a new technology, risks associated with a startup company, risks associated with international transactions, general economic conditions, availability of funds for capital expenditure by customers, availability of timely financing, cash flow, timely delivery by suppliers or AssureTec Systems, and ability to manage growth. Other risk factors attributable to AssureTec Systems' business segment may affect the actual results achieved by AssureTec Systems.