Antelope Valley Hospital Selects BioconX and Siemens for IT Security

Large Hospital in California Uses BioconX Software to Fortify Computer Security for 2,000 Users to Prepare for HIPAA

MINNEAPOLIS -- For release on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 -- BioconX, Inc. announces that Antelope Valley Hospital (AVH), Lancaster, Calif., has selected BioconX network security software and biometric technology from Siemens to strengthen system security in preparation for the data privacy and computer security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). AVH began implementation for all 2,000 of its users in January 2002 and plans to complete the rollout by the end of the year.

"We take a systematic approach to solving technology challenges," says Ash Shehata, director of information services and telecommunications, AVH. "Last year, we carefully evaluated several alternative security solutions and chose BioconX and Siemens in June 2001. We then conducted a three-month, fifty-user pilot test to ensure that we made the right choice. I wanted to make certain that we could begin and complete implementation for all of our 2,000 users this year so that our hospital would be ready for HIPAAs data privacy and IT security requirements before the 2003 compliance deadline."

"My team supports 60-plus applications," says Shehata. "We decided on BioconX because our pilot test proved their software can apply biometric authentication to all our applications without requiring any modification of application source code. For us, that was an essential requirement."

"We paired BioconX software with biometric technology from Siemens because in my view the Siemens finger scan recognition sensor is superior," he says. "Our users get a good scan virtually every single time. In my experience, its as foolproof as biometric technology gets."

AVH is using the Siemens chip for processing finger scans integrated into computer keyboards and into the Siemens ID Mouse Professional, a Microsoft -certified, ergonomic computer mouse with an optical mouse sensor. The Siemens technology scans one or more of a users ten fingers to provide the input for a biometric comparison template unique to the individual user, and authenticates the identity of users by comparing their finger scan to all stored templates. BioconX software instantly enables authenticated users to access all servers, and launch any application, for which they have authorization with one single, simple, and secure biometric sign-on.

BioconX software also logs all entries to a centralized database with time- and date-stamping and identification of the workstation and user for each log entry. This feature establishes an audit trail that is essential for HIPAAs data privacy requirements.

Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) in 1996 to allow workers to maintain insurance coverage when they switch jobs. HIPAA also introduces data privacy standards and computer security requirements, which take effect in April 2003, as well as uniform standards for electronic data transactions, which take effect in October 2003.

About Antelope Valley Hospital (AVH):

For more than forty years, Antelope Valley Hospital (AVH), a 350-bed hospital in Lancaster, Calif., has taken pride in providing quality care to the communities its serves. AVH enjoys a national reputation for excellence in information technology. The hospitals computer services center is a Microsoft Premier Select site and a fully authorized Dell Premier Service Provider. AVHs experienced IT professionals manage a Tandem S72000 non-stop server mainframe, 200 Windows NT Server computers, 8 Unix systems, and more than 60 application software systems. For more information on Antelope Valley Hospital (AVH), please visit www.avhospital.org.

About Siemens Biometrics:

Siemens Biometrics emerged as a division of internationally renowned electronics leader, Siemens AG, in 1997 with the companys development of the worlds first capacitance fingerprint sensor. Siemens continues to dominate in the area, establishing itself as the leading provider of fingerprint systems and components for the office and consumer sector, and earning special recognition in 1999 with its nomination for the "German future award".

As a division of Siemens AG, Siemens Biometrics leverages the strength and intellectual resources of a company 150 years- and 460,000 employees-strong to create the most reliable applications, based on the most advanced algorithms. For detailed information on the Siemens ID Mouse Professional, please visit www.siemensidmouse.com. More information on Siemens Biometrics can be found at www.siemens.com/biometrics.

About BioconX, Inc.:

BioconX, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., develops software that effectively applies biometrics, the technology of authenticating individual identity from unique personal characteristics, to safeguard access to computer networks and applications. BioconX simplifies network administration and strengthens control over all applications. BioconX customers can assure their stakeholders that they are employing advanced software technology to fortify network security, reduce system administration and support costs, and sustain innovation. For more information on BioconX, please visit www.bioconx.com.

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Note to Editors: BioconX and Antelope Valley Hospital executives are available for interview. An updated BioconX corporate backgrounder is also available to members of the media upon request. For assistance, kindly contact David Aquilina, strategic storyteller, via e-mail at davidaquilina@msn.com.