SecuGen Corporation announces joint venture with Business Brain Showa-Ota (BBS) to establish SecuGen Japan

San Jose, CA (December 14, 1999) - SecuGen Corporation, a biometrics technology leader, announced today a strategic partnership with BBS, a major Japanese accounting firm based in Tokyo, Japan to establish SecuGen Japan to develop and promote the Japanese market for biometric applications.

SecuGen will hold the majority ownership in SecuGen Japan. The joint venture will be launched on December 14, 1999 and will operate their office in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Mr. Jun Young Ahn, President and CEO of SecuGen Corporation, will be Chairman and CEO of SecuGen Japan, and Mr. S. Akiba, formerly of GAB Consulting Company, will be President and COO of SecuGen Japan.

Ms. Ann Walker, SecuGen's VP of Marketing stated, "We are very pleased to align with a leading accounting firm like BBS. While this venture is in its initial launch phase, we believe that it will grow rapidly given the size of the Japanese market and potential. As a first step, we plan to partner with Japanese electronics manufacturers to integrate SecuGen's OEM fingerprint modules with their products."

SecuGen Japan will market SecuGen's EyeD Mouse™, which has won the PC Week's Best of Comdex '99 finalist for PC peripherals, along with other applications in Japan.

Biometrics technology uses a person's unique physical characteristics, such as their fingerprint, for personal identification and verification. Biometrics replaces the need for keys, cards and passwords, which can be lost, copied, shared and are inconvenient.Applications range from computer security, physical access control, time and attendance, ATMs, to Internet banking and more.  Historically, biometrics has been considered expensive and not readily available.  However, with new leaps in technology and growing acceptance, the cost is now affordable, and SecuGen has begun to develop commercial applications such as consumer online banking.  SecuGen recently announced an exclusive biometric solution partnership with ING Direct of Canada, which is an online banking company based in Toronto, Canada.

About SecuGen Corporation A pioneer of the biometric industry, SecuGen Corporation designs, manufactures and markets its award-winning optical fingerprint recognition technology worldwide. SecuGen's products have been integrated into a broad range of applications including Internet, network and desktop security, physical access control and other electronic products. As a trusted source for reliable hardware and software products, SecuGen is committed to ongoing research and development in biometrics technology.

© 1999 SecuGen Corporation. All rights reserved.