Intercede Regulatory News (IGP)

6 Sep 2007 07:01

Intercede Group PLC06 September 2007 6 SEPTEMBER 2007 INTERCEDE GROUP PLC ("Intercede" or "the Company") Intercede Confirms Licence Agreement With Thales Following last week's announcement of a new licence agreement, Intercede, one ofthe world's leading developers and suppliers of smart card and identitymanagement software, is pleased to confirm that the agreement is with Thales,the international electronics and mission critical systems group. The agreement reinforces the relationship between Intercede and Thales andsupports the growth in demand for identity management solutions currently beingwitnessed by Thales in the financial services industry and the public sector.This agreement is separate from Intercede's existing product customisationcontract with Thales, signed previously. Thales first integrated MyID with its SafeSign suite of products over threeyears ago and has since been offering a unique identity management solution tothe market. In response to growing demand within the financial services andpublic sector markets for sophisticated identity management, Thales is furtherinvesting in the solution and has carried out extensive product development todifferentiate the SafeSign Management Server from other offerings on the market. Together SafeSign Management Server and SafeSign Authentication Server providecustomers with an end-to-end identity management, user and messageauthentication solution that unites the issuing and management of a largevariety of authentication and identification technologies, including PKI cards,USB tokens, handheld tokens, mobile phones, contact and contactless cards andbiometric technologies. Paul Meadowcroft, head of transaction security for the e-Security activities ofThales, comments: "In response to customer and market requirements, we have invested heavily inthe development of the SafeSign suite of products to ensure that customers arereceiving a unique, sophisticated and functionality-rich end-to-end identitymanagement and authentication solution. As a result, our customers in thefinancial services and public sector markets worldwide can rely on Thales toprovide them with an advanced solution which will meet the rigorous demands oftheir current and future identity management and authentication requirements." Richard Parris, Chief Executive of Intercede, comments: "I am pleased that our relationship with Thales has reached this new level ofpartnership as the identity and smart card market starts to quickly grow. It isa vindication of our focused MyID product development strategy and long-termapproach to working with partners. After a 3-year partnership to date, thisorder demonstrates Thales' commitment to Intercede, our technology leadershipand the longevity of Intercede's business model. "We expect this to be the first of many significant licence orders from Thalesas SafeSign is delivered to an increasing number of banks and governmentalorganisations around the world through Thales' network of international businesspartners, spanning the globe from Australia in the east to Hawaii in the westand all points between." - Ends - About Intercede Intercede Group plc is a leading developer and supplier of smart card andidentity management software listed on the London Stock Exchange (IGP LN)(IGP.L). The Group's MyID software manages the secure registration, issuance andlifecycle of digital identities for a wide range of uses. This requires theintegration of multiple technologies and products from many different vendors,including smart cards, biometrics, digital certificates, Open Platform appletsand physical access control systems. Intercede works with a number of market leading OEM, re-seller and technologypartners that supply MyID technology to the global marketplace including: AthenaSmartcard Solutions, Gemalto, RSA Security, SafeNet, Thales, VeriSign and avariety of systems integrators and other security product and service providers. Intercede and MyID are registered trademarks or trademarks in the UK, US and/orother countries. For more information on Intercede and MyID visit http://www.intercede.com About Thales Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressingdefence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales' leading-edgetechnology is supported by 22,000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatchedin Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical informationsystems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop inparallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective:the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on itsunique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with nationalcustomers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to supportlocal technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50countries with forecast 2007 revenues in excess of €12 billion. Thales UK is a major electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace,security and services markets. Thales employs 9,000 staff in the UK, based atmore than 50 locations. In 2006 Thales UK's revenues were over £1 bn. Press contacts For Thales: Sarah Milligan Suzanne HewittThales, Security Solutions & Services Hotwire, press agencysarah.milligan@thalesesecurity.com suzanne.hewittt@hotwirepr.com+44 (0) 1844 204181 +44 (0) 20 7608 4655 For Intercede: Intercede Group plc Tel. +44 (0)1455 558111Richard Parris, Chairman & Chief ExecutiveAndrew Walker, Finance Director Pelham Public RelationsArchie Berens Tel. +44 (0)20 7743 6679 KBC Peel Hunt (Nominated adviser and broker) Tel: +44 (0)207 418 8900Richard Kauffer/Gordon Suggett Notes to editors: About the e-security activities of Thales Thales is a world leader in the provision of cryptographic security products andsolutions for all critical infrastructures including governments, the military,satellite networks, enterprises and the finance industry. Thales has 40 years ofunrivalled track record in protecting networks up to TOP SECRET and a completeportfolio of products, which includes network encryption, access control andremote user solutions. In the financial world, Thales secures value bearingtransactions, data preparation for card and PIN issuing, and provides advanceduser and message authentication solutions supported by secure identitymanagement and token issuing. Over half of the world's banks, together with themajority of the busiest exchanges, currently use Thales technology and services. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange