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 Survey results indicate than more than one third of fortune 500 companies plan to use smart cards for corporate security by 2006
Gemplus’s 2003 “U.S. Corporate Security Systems Study” Shows rising interest and commitment to smart card-based enterprise security
Luxembourg, Horsham, PA (December 8, 2003) – Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 – GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world’s leading provider of smart card solutions and the number one provider of smart cards in North America, today reported the results of its U.S. Corporate Security Systems Study. The study, performed by Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting company, provides insight into the present security systems, needs, and prospective future trends of American Fortune 500 companies.
According to the survey results, based on interviews with 69 Fortune 500 senior executives, there is a profound interest in using smart cards as part of their physical and/or logical security systems.
“More than 63% of the Fortune 500 executives interviewed either have investigated or are investigating smart cards for network security,” says Deepak Shetty, Senior Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Furthermore there was a 100% awareness of smart card technology among those interviewed. These are extraordinary figures considering the fact that most companies hadn’t even heard of smart cards three years ago.”
In 2002 it was reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Computer Security Institute (CSI) that 90% of large corporations and government agencies detected computer security breaches within the last year. The traditional employee badges used within most corporations today are unable to address all these electronic security issues. Results from the U.S. Corporate Security Systems Study indicate an increased interest in Fortune 500 companies to deploy a single token for both physical and logical security. Smart cards respond to this challenge by offering a versatile platform to combine building access and network security on one card, and as a result, have experienced an increased uptake by large corporations in the last few years.
“More than one-third of Fortune 500 companies surveyed, 39% to be precise, plan to use smart cards to enhance and strengthen their corporate security systems within the next three years,” says Dave Ludin, Gemplus’s Vice President of Financial and Security Solutions in North America. “This research shows that already 30% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using or testing smart cards within their security systems.”
Gemplus, leveraging its own internal experience and deployment, helps companies like Boeing Corporation and Denver Health to offer more secure and convenient identification systems to their employees. Through its recently launched SafesITe, Gemplus provides customers and system integrators with all the products (cards, readers & software) and services necessary for deploying multi-purpose employee cards.
To learn more about Gemplus’ SafesITe solution and the U.S. Corporate Security Systems Study, please visit the Gemplus booth #304 at Inside ID 2003 in Washington, D.C. from December 9-10.
About Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world’s leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source 2002: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor). Gemplus has the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.
Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable and personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people’s lives. These include Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Identity, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, access control, and a wealth of other applications.
Gemplus’s revenue in 2002 was 787 million Euros.
www.gemplus.com
©2003 Gemplus. All rights reserved. Gemplus, the Gemplus logo, and SafesITe are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the property of their respective owners.
Some of the statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activities, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: trends in wireless communication and mobile commerce markets; our ability to develop new technology, and the effects of competing technologies developed and expected intense competition generally in our main markets; profitability of our expansion strategy; challenges to or loss of our intellectual property rights; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in our major businesses; our ability to develop and take advantage of new software and services; and the effect of future acquisitions and investments on our share price. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of this release. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results.
For further information, contact:
Kerry Butler
Gemplus Americas PR Manager
Tel : +1 (215) 390 2840
Email: kerry.butler@gemplus.com
Harjiv Singh
Edelman – New York
Tel: +1 (212) 704 8186
Email: harjiv.singh@edelman.com
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