NW_20020315_en_VASCO Labels Lawsuit Groundless

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Illinois and BRUSSELS, Belgium - March 15, 2002 – VASCO Data Security International (NASDAQ NM & NASDAQ Europe: VDSI; www.vasco.com), a global provider of enterprise-wide security products that support e-business and e-commerce, today countered as baseless ActivCard’s claim of patent and trade dress infringement.

VASCO has reviewed the specific claims contained in the lawsuit and finds them without merit. VASCO also finds it notable that ActivCard (NASDAQ NM & NASDAQ Europe: ACTI) timed the filing of this lawsuit to coincide with the CeBIT 2002 trade show in Hanover, Germany. VASCO believes that such timing may be intended to disrupt VASCO’s presence at the trade show and to harm VASCO in the marketplace.

Mario Houthooft, CEO of VASCO noted: “VASCO respects the intellectual property rights of others. Our Company has patents that protect its entire proprietary product line. VASCO does not believe that ActivCard’s suit has any merit and we will vigorously defend against this groundless lawsuit. ActivCard has previously refused to provide us with information which we requested about the validity and origin of their patent. I advise our customers and investors to ignore this smokescreen and to take note of the press releases during the CeBIT show that demonstrate VASCO’s ability to develop new products and establish meaningful business relationships.”

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, digital signature, network Single Sign-On, and Radius, LAN and Web 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.

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.

For more information contact:

Media:
Jochem Binst, +32 479 980 947, [email protected]

Investor Relations:
Annemieke Blondeel, +44 20 8298 9960, [email protected]