Cogent Systems Announces GAO Has Sustained Its Protest on Iraq Contract

Business Wire, Oct 19, 2005

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. -- Cogent Systems (Nasdaq:COGT) announced today that the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has sustained its protest of proposal (RFP) No. W9124Q-O5-R-AFIS, issued by the Department of the Army for an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to be used by the government of Iraq. The GAO highlighted in its decision report, "In sum, we find reasonable possibility that Cogent was prejudiced by the Army's evaluation errors." This contract was awarded to Motorola Inc. in February, 2005. The GAO ruling recommended that the U.S. Army reimburse Cogent for both its costs of proposal preparation and of filing and pursuing the protest.

"In an open and fair environment we believe that our AFIS solutions offer highly competitive and leading technology," commented Ming Hsieh, President and CEO of Cogent Systems. "Our leadership has recently been confirmed through independent testing by agencies of both the U.S. and Canadian governments."

About Cogent Systems

Cogent is a leading provider of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems, or AFIS, and other fingerprint biometric solutions to governments, law enforcement agencies and other organizations worldwide. Cogent's AFIS solutions enable customers to capture fingerprint images electronically, encode fingerprints into searchable files and accurately compare a set of fingerprints to a database containing potentially millions of fingerprints in seconds.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's current estimates and expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Cogent is providing this information as of the date of this press release, and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this press release.

Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, express and implied statements regarding Cogent's future domestic and international growth, and opportunities in the civil market for national identification programs. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied here. Readers are referred to Cogent's Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005 filed by Cogent with the Securities and Exchange Commission which identifies important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: changes in government policies; deriving a significant portion of revenues from a limited number of customers; deriving a significant portion of revenues from the sale of solutions pursuant to government contracts; failure of the biometrics market to experience significant growth; failure of Cogent's products to achieve broad acceptance; failure to successfully compete; failure to comply with government regulations; negative publicity and/or loss of clients due to security breaches resulting in the disclosure of confidential information; loss of export licenses or changes in export laws; failure to manage projects; rapid technology change in the biometrics market; loss of a key member of management team; termination of backlog orders; loss of limited source suppliers; negative audits by government agencies; failure to protect intellectual property; and exposure to intellectual property and product liability claims. The information contained in this press release is a statement of Cogent's present intention, belief or expectation and is based upon, among other things, existing industry conditions, market conditions, the economy in general and Cogent's assumptions. Cogent may change its intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based upon any changes in such factors, in its assumptions or otherwise. Cogent undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.