BIO-key’s PortalGuard Identity and Access Control Platform Adds New Mexico’s Rio Arriba County to Growing List of County Government Customers Throughout the US

BIO-key’s PIV-Pro fingerprint readers selected for office users and WEB-key’s MobileAuth with PalmPositive Application for remote users

WALL, N.J., Feb. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BIO-key International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKYI), an innovative provider of workforce and customer identity and access management (IAM) solutions featuring Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB), today announced in partnership with iT1 that Rio Arriba County, NM has selected its PortalGuard IAM platform, including WEB-key biometric authentication, to deliver cost-effective, modern security controls for access to all its enterprise resources and mission-critical applications. The County also chose BIO-key’s PIV-Pro fingerprint readers, a highly accurate FIPS 201 compliant scanner for its office users, and remote users will use WEB-key’s MobileAuth application with PalmPositive for biometric palm authentication. PortalGuard provides the County with a secure IAM approach to support its hybrid workforce and a large variety of user access scenarios.

Rio Arriba County selected PortalGuard to provide strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) access control and support compliance with cybersecurity insurance requirements. PortalGuard was selected over competitive solutions because of its flexible MFA capabilities and tight integration with highly secure Identity-Bound Biometrics. The County’s IT team chose to incorporate WEB-key’s multiple biometric authentication options to prove each user’s true identity instead of merely validating their hardware device, as this delivers much stronger protection against cyber security threats while also providing a quick and user-friendly means to access county systems.

“iT1 partnered with BIO-key to address our customers’ need for a flexible, cost-effective, and proven identity and access management solution,” said Zim Jackson, Partner Program Manager, iT1. “Additionally, it was important for us to partner with a group that could extend the quality of customer support our customers expect. Being selected by the Rio Arriba County government to provide a trusted IAM platform demonstrates the strength of our combined capabilities.”

“Our partnership with iT1 provides valuable IAM solutions to County governments that are dealing with a cascade of ransomware attacks targeting the public sector at the same time they are struggling to provide and manage more services online during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mark Cochran, President of BIO-key – PortalGuard. “The landscape is changing quite rapidly right now, and we are proud to deliver the best blend of advanced IAM capabilities to County governments that provide superior convenience, affordability, and ensure that only authorized users access County systems and data. RIO Arriba represents the fifth new county government customer we’ve added from five different states, in the last two months. Our growing traction in this market is a direct reflection of the security, ease of deployment, and value our solutions provide.”

About iT1 Source (https://it1.com)
iT1 is a global technology solution provider headquartered in Tempe, AZ. Our core capabilities include virtualization, data management, communications, networking, professional and managed services, and corporate procurement. The company serves over 3,000 active accounts in virtually every industry, including healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing, as well as Federal, state, local, and education (SLED) agencies. Our mission is to provide value-driven services in the design and implementation of customized technology solutions for our clients, allowing them to achieve their stated business goals. We strive to build long-term client relationships based on expertise, excellence in service, and the highest ethical standards.

About BIO-key International, Inc. (www.BIO-key.com)
BIO-key has over two decades of expertise in providing authentication technology for thousands of organizations and millions of users and is revolutionizing authentication with biometric-centric, multi-factor identity and access management (IAM) solutions, including its PortalGuard IAM solution, that provides convenient and secure access to devices, information, applications, and high-value transactions. BIO-key’s patented software and hardware solutions, with industry-leading biometric capabilities, enable large-scale on-premises and cloud-based Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) solutions, as well as customized enterprise solutions.

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement
All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). The words “estimate,” “project,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology industry; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; the duration and severity of the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our business operations, sales cycles, personnel, and the geographic markets in which we operate; delays in the development of products and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing as well as other factors set forth under the caption see “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, there may be other factors of which the Company is not currently aware that may affect matters discussed in forward-looking statements and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. In particular, the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak to economic conditions and the industry in general and the financial position and operating results of our Company, in particular, have been material, are changing rapidly, and cannot be predicted.

BIO-key Media Contact:
Erin Knapp
Matter Communications
BIO-key@matternow.com
914-260-3158

Investor Contacts:
William Jones, David Collins
Catalyst IR
BKYI@catalyst-ir.com
212-924-9800