NW_20011016_en_VASCO Protects Online Client Portfolios for Belgian Investment Firm de Buck & Cie
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. and BRUSSELS, Belgium – 16 October, 2001 – VASCO (Nasdaq NM & Nasdaq Europe: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a global provider of security products that enable e-business and e-commerce, has announced that de Buck & Cie n.v., a Belgian investment firm, has chosen VASCO’s Digipass strong authentication to provide their customers with secure remote access to their web-based portfolios. Next to this, de Buck & Cie has installed VASCO’s VACMAN Controller, to reliably secure their network. By linking VACMAN Controller to the application, it automatically handles login requests from any users authorized to have a Digipass token. Customers of de Buck & Cie now have the flexibility to access and track their portfolios online at anytime from anywhere with an Internet connection while being assured of the privacy of their confidential data.
“We wanted to ensure the privacy and protection of our customers’ financial data while maintaining a convenient and easy to use process,” explains JM de Buck van Overstraeten, CEO of de Buck & Cie. “VASCO offered the best solution for providing a higher level of remote access security that will protect our customers’ online portfolios against unauthorized access while maintaining a low Total Cost of Ownership to the business. The Digipass-VACMAN combination offers an affordable solution that is easy to implement for our IT managers as well as for our end-users, and supplies the flexibility that will enable us to provide transactional security with digital signature capabilities in the future.”
The Digipass is a hand-held device that works on “two-factor” authentication to offer a high level of remote access security. To gain access to their portfolios, customers must identify themselves with two “factors”: something they know (their personal login), and something they have in their possession (their Digipass authenticator). Uniquely programmed for each customer, the Digipass will only work in combination with that person’s login. Once activated, the Digipass generates a dynamic password-- a random, one-time password. This replaces the traditional username and password pair, thus eliminating the possibility of the password being captured when sent out over the Internet-- a familiar security breach. All Digipass devices also provide digital signature capability, allowing organizations the option of verifying the authenticity of online transactions and data transfer.
VASCO partners, DCB (Data Communication Business)-- a leading Belgian value-added distributor of quality Internet security products-- and reseller Work IT out! provided the integration of Digipass for de Buck & Cie. Vincent Willems, CEO of Work IT out!, says, “We select very rigorously the products we choose to work with. We offer products that are market leaders in their segment, such as VASCO’s Digipass and VACMAN. VASCO’s products were easily integrated into de Buck & Cie’s existing databases and web servers without the loss of functionality and without requiring knowledge of VASCO’s internal programming structure, making the conversion a simple process for the IT staff.”
Along with more than 600 businesses in more than 50 countries, there are now more than 170 financial institutions globally that have put their trust in VASCO to secure their corporate networks and their customers personal data and transactions. These include ABN AMRO, Arab Bank Jordan, Beneficial Bank, Cortal Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Hamburgische Landesbank, National Westminster Bank, First Union, OCBC Bank, and SEB Group.
“Our growing network of partners and resellers around the globe continues to help us expand our reach and extend our market leadership in securing the financial industry and remote network access worldwide,” states Jan Valcke, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing of VASCO. “As more businesses look to broaden their customer base and provide more convenient services, such as remote banking, we expect that they will look to VASCO for proven cost-effective and scalable strong authentication.”
About VASCO
VASCO secures the enterprise from the mainframe to the Internet with infrastructure solutions that enable secure e-business and e-commerce, protect sensitive information, and safeguard the identity of users. The Company's family of Digipass® and VACMAN® products offers end-to-end security through strong authentication and digital signature, enterprise Single Sign-On, and LAN security, while sharply reducing the time and effort required to deploy and manage security. VASCO's customers include hundreds of financial institutions, blue-chip corporations, and government agencies in more than 50 countries. More information is available at www.vasco.com.
About Work IT Out!
Work IT Out! is a Belgium based company specializing in the consultancy and implementation of internet and web related security. With over six years of experience the company prides itself on customer-focused service's and turn key solutions. Work IT Out!'s customer base includes several multinational Financial Institutions and Services related companies. The flexible approach of the company combined with the broad portfolio of products and solutions has enabled its customers to create European wide fault tolerant Networks, with comprehensive secure internet access. More information is available at http://www.work-it-out.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements made in this news release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements. Any statement containing words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” and similar words, is forward-looking, and these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations. Consequently, actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements.
Reference is made to the Company's public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding the Company and its operations.
VASCO Media:
Americas: Mike Lange, +1 630 932 8844, [email protected]
EMEA/APAC: Jochem Binst, +32 2 456 9810, [email protected]
Investor Relations:
Annemieke Blondeel, USA +1 630 932 8844, Europe +44 20 8308 7080, [email protected]
Work IT out!:
Vincent Willems, +32 9 3299011, [email protected]