Benzinga | Feb 16, 2021 07:59AM EST

West Coast State Expands Deployment Of BIO-key's Biometric Authentication Solution For Secure Access To Centralized Voter Registration Database

WALL, N.J., Feb. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIO-key International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BKYI), an innovative provider of identity and access management (IAM) solutions powered by biometrics, today announced that a West Coast State Election Office has expanded its implementation of BIO-key's biometric multi-factor authentication solution for secure access to its voter registration database statewide. The solution combines BIO-key's core biometric software engine, WEB-key, and its PIV-Pro FIPS compliant fingerprint scanners to address the state's requirements to secure access to voter data.. The state's additional investment in BIO-key's biometric election security solution builds upon their earlier deployment and the deployments of election offices in Florida, as well as others that are evaluating BIO-key's solutions to strengthen the security of election data access.



The West Coast State Election Office's rollout plan enables its team to expand the use of biometric authentication across all counties. The State and County election office workers and volunteers access the centralized voter registration system via a Citrix environment. To protect voter data and enhance security for elections, the election office decided to implement a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) solution. After evaluating various options, state officials decided that BIO-key's biometric-based MFA solution would provide the strongest form of online security and has executed its strategy for the Phase 2 rollout. The BIO-key team, in collaboration with the state's IT team, created a customized solution to meet their specific security requirements.

"BIO-key's unique biometric multi-factor authentication solution has proven its value to state election offices," stated Mike DePasquale, Chairman & CEO, BIO-key. "It is clear that every election office is making security and maintaining the integrity of our election process a top priority. By utilizing biometric authentication, they can tie access to the individual, not a credential, thereby validating the user's identity and not just their device during login. Given the current threat landscape and challenges facing our election system, we are uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in assisting other states and counties to strengthen their election security."