Wyse Technology and Identix Team to Deliver Strong Biometric Security for Wyse Winterm Thin Clients

Combination of Identix Fingerprint Identification Technology with Wyse's Thin Clients Enables Greater Protection of Server Infrastructure and Valuable Digital Information

San Jose, CA – 15/01/2002 - Wyse® Technology, the worldwide leader in secure, managed thin clients, and Identix Incorporated (NASDAQ:IDNX), the worldwide leader in providing fingerprint biometric authentication, security, and identification solutions, have entered into a marketing alliance agreement intended to increase the security options available for the server-based computing environment through the joint promotion and delivery of Identix biometric security solutions for Wyse Winterm™ thin clients. Wyse's Winterm thin clients now support the use of Identix' BioLogon® biometric fingerprint security technology, allowing a user's "fingerprint-reading" to complement the existing local password and network security features inherent in server-based computing. The use of Identix' BioLogon software reduces the threat of unauthorized access to information while potentially eliminating 50 percent or more of help-desk calls related to password problems.

Recent national events have heightened public awareness that unwarranted user access and information theft threaten the integrity of an entire network, and in some cases, the safety of the people using it. Yet, the economic downturn has made businesses sensitive to rising IT costs. Many organizations are already using Wyse Winterm thin clients to eliminate many costs associated with the acquisition of new desktop technology, the management of thousands of desktops, and the downtime related to virus outbreaks and other malicious activities. Additional security through the use of biometrics is yet another way that Wyse is helping customers drive down costs while increasing security. This is particularly important for the healthcare and financial industries due to the extreme sensitivity of the information contained on company networks within those industries.

"Wyse is now able to provide customers with the option of adding even greater security to the thin-client computing environment, enabling heightened protection against unauthorized access to valuable or sensitive materials, or mission-critical information," said Brad Rowland, director of product management at Wyse Technology. "Thin clients are inherently more secure than personal computers, and the addition of biometric security devices offers greater desktop value to customers at a time when the need to protect information and reduce costs is growing exponentially."

Industry Applications for Biometric Security and Thin Clients

IT security is generally referred to by industry experts in terms of "factors," either one-factor, two-factor or three-factor. One-factor security is in place today in most systems, and is typically based on a "something you know" model such as user name and password. Wyse recently announced a two-factor security capability for Winterm thin clients in the form of smart card support, extending the "something you know", to "something you know and something you have" (the physical smart card). This announcement extends that security model to support three-factor security (something you know, something you have -- smart card, and something you are -- fingerprint) to provide the strongest security available in the industry.

"Identix' Biometric technology electronically extracts minutiae points from individual fingerprint images to create a template that acts as a unique ID for each user-an important additional layer of protection during a time of increased fraud control and heightened national security," said Grant Evans, executive vice president global strategy at Identix. "The combination of Wyse Technology's secure, managed thin-client solutions with Identix' BioLogon fingerprint technology allows organizations to employ what we believe are some of the strongest authentication methods available, while minimizing overhead costs for technology."

Several applications have the potential to become far safer with the biometric capability now available in Wyse thin clients. Airport airline reservation counters, hotel front desks, building security stations and human resources departments all benefit from keeping unwanted users out of sensitive servers and data. Thin clients are already being used in these environments and the addition of biometric support will further enhance an organization's ability to prevent unauthorized access.

The Identix Biometric Solution for Wyse Thin Clients

Identix BioLogon software captures, extracts and stores information on unique, individual physical/biological characteristics, such as fingerprints, and uses it thereafter to recognize the person. The integration of Identix' BioLogon enterprise solutions with Wyse's industry-leading thin clients will offer thin-client users a means of specific identification and added security, allowing organizations to enforce strong authentication methods, eliminating the need to issue multiple passwords and codes.

Thin Clients and Enterprise Security

Wyse's secure, managed thin clients help maximize IT budgets while minimizing the risk of unauthorized access to mission-critical information. Winterm thin clients deliver the key elements of security - authorization, authentication, integrity and confidentiality - through four levels of security that complement server-based software. These include a first-level user-name and password security shield built directly into the thin client, protecting the server from unauthorized access, support for smart cards and biometric authentication devices, the use of Citrix's Secure ICA protocol, providing up to 128-bit end-to-end encryption of an ICA data-stream, and the elimination of local storage that can fail or be hacked, causing important communication such as e-mail to be corrupted, modified or simply not received.

About Identix

Identix Incorporated, www.Identix.com, is a leader in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing products for the capture and/or comparison of fingerprints for security, anti-fraud, law enforcement, physical access and other applications. Identix designs and develops proprietary, cost-effective, security products and solutions for personal identification and verification. Through itrust™, Identix offers an array of Internet and wireless Web secure transaction processing services, and provides a wide range of applications to markets that include corporate enterprise security, Intranet, extranet, and Internet, wireless Web access and security, E-commerce, government and law enforcement agencies.

About Wyse Technology

Wyse is the #1 vendor the world's largest businesses and institutions trust for scalable thin-client computing solutions. Wyse provides the hardware, software, and services that shift computing complexity to the network, reducing cost, liberating IT departments from unnecessary support and maintenance functions, empowering users to be more productive in their jobs, and protecting and improving access to critical information and business applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California with offices worldwide, Wyse has been #1 in thin-client market share for the last eight years, enjoys a close partnership with Citrix Systems, and has been named Microsoft "Embedded Partner of the Year" for three years. Wyse customers include FedEx, Best Buy (Canada), Quaker Foods, and Gold's Gym.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE