Saudi Aramco Selects Identix Biometric Live Scan Systems for Employee Identity Management System

Aramco is the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to Aramco, it ranks first among oil companies worldwide in terms of crude oil production and exports and natural gas liquids exports, and is among the leading producers of natural gas. Under the terms of this purchase order, which is valued in excess of $1 million, Identix will provide multiple Identix TouchPrint 3500 live scan systems to Saudi Aramco for deployment to locations throughout the world to facilitate employee enrollment via fingerprint biometrics. Aramco is instituting a program throughout its facilities worldwide to enroll its employees via fingerprint biometrics to help ensure that the company can identify employees and provide privileges and benefits based on absolute identification that cannot be duplicated, lost or stolen. Identix expects to begin shipping the live scan systems in November 2003 and to have all ordered systems installed by the end of March 2004. Additionally, Aramco intends to leverage Identix technology to reduce the time consuming requirements and complexity involved in re-enrolling individuals in the future for other potential biometric-based security applications. Because it is based on a very open and flexible architecture, the Aramco Identity Management system will enable fingerprints enrolled via Identix TouchPrint live scan systems that are initially used for background checks, to be used in the future for biometric-based employee ID cards, as well as for physical and logical access. Expanded use of biometric fingerprint data with only one enrollment can help to reduce loop-holes in security, which sometimes develops in fragmented security systems where individuals are asked to enroll multiple times. The Aramco Identity Management system will utilize the backend software storage and search capabilities of Hamburg, Germany-based Dermalogs Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and the entire system will be integrated and maintained by Damam, Saudi Arabia-based Ultra Computer Services. Identix TouchPrint 3000 Family of Products Identix TouchPrint 3000 Series consists of low-cost portable and rugged, standalone systems that incorporate product design breakthroughs and state-of-the-art technologies that serve to enhance image quality and reliability and lower the total cost of ownership, values that end users appreciate. Revolutionary optical and lighting schemes -- Moisture Discriminating Optics, Dual Beam Illumination and Clear Trace Imaging -- enable the TouchPrint 3000 Series live scan systems to ignore moisture, dirt, residue and latent prints left behind on the platen, helping to lower AFIS rejection rates and maximize throughput. The TouchPrint 3000 Series also provides customers the option of the first and only commercially available fingerprinting system with an integrated IQS Appendix F certified full hand scanner, able to capture an image from the carpal crease to the fingertips in one continuous scan.