Annual Cybersecurity Breakthrough Awards Program Recognizes Top Performers in the Global Information Security Market

BIO-key PortalGuard IDaaS Wins 2021 �Access Management Solution of the Year�

Annual Cybersecurity Breakthrough Awards Program Recognizes Top Performers in the Global Information Security Market

WALL, N.J., Sept. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIO-key International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BKYI), an innovative provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Identity-Bound Biometric (IBB) solutions, today announced its PortalGuard� Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) platform has been selected as the winner of the �Access Management Solution of the Year� award in the fifth annual, 2021 CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program conducted by�CyberSecurity Breakthrough, a leading independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global information security market today.

Rigid security controls and passwords make it difficult for today�s digitally transformed enterprise to prevent cyberattacks while making sure that employees, customers, and suppliers can get the resources they need. BIO-key PortalGuard IDaaS is a single, unified IAM platform that customers select for its powerful identity security with unmatched flexibility.

PortalGuard IDaaS offers an unmatched variety of choices for multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and self-service password reset (SSPR), and is the only IAM platform on the market offering Identity-Bound Biometrics as an authentication method, that provides the highest level of integrity and is well-suited for everyday use cases including remote workforces, third-party access, Customer IAM (CIAM), and passwordless workflows. For over 20 years, PortalGuard has been trusted by customers across multiple industries, including education, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and government to reduce password-related help desk calls by up to 95%, eliminate passwords, secure remote access, prevent phishing attacks, and improve productivity for the IT team.

With flexibility the focus of the platform, PortalGuard supports over 16 authentication methods, major federation and SSO standards as well as contextual authentication, empowering the IT Administrator to decide which authentication methods work best to support their security policies and access scenarios, and making it easy to protect on-premises, legacy, thick client, and web applications from a single comprehensive Identity Provider (IdP). PortalGuard also provides the flexibility to allow organizations to store identities where they want and have the flexibility to deploy on-premises or in the cloud.

�To navigate this complex cybersecurity landscape, customers need a solution that can adapt to their needs as attacks continue to evolve, user expectations are raised, and IT resources remain limited,� said Michael DePasquale, Chairman and CEO of BIO-key. �We are so pleased to be recognized by CyberSecurity Breakthrough � especially at a time when flexibility and �future proof� solutions, that include biometrics, are essential to protecting the enterprise.�

The mission of the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work, and success in a range of information security categories, including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Email Security, and many more. This year�s program attracted more than 4,000 nominations from over 20 different countries throughout the world.

�Access management is all about flexibility and balancing both security and convenience. A complete solution needs to not only secure access but also ensure that it provides a streamlined and usable access experience,� said James Johnson, Managing Director, CyberSecurity Breakthrough. �To achieve the level of flexibility that�s required in today�s digital world, a solution needs to have enough options for all users and PortalGuard is a �breakthrough� identity security platform that delivers on this need, working for all scenarios users may find themselves in. We extend our sincere congratulations to BIO-key for winning our 'Access Management Solution of the Year' award.�

To learn more about BIO-key PortalGuard IDaaS please visit BIO-key's website.

About BIO-key International, Inc. (www.BIO-key.com)
BIO-key has over two decades of expertise in providing authentication technology for thousands of organizations and millions of users and is revolutionizing authentication with biometric-centric, multifactor identity and access management (IAM) solutions, including its PortalGuard IAM solution, that provides convenient and secure access to devices, information, applications, and high-value transactions. BIO-key's patented software and hardware solutions, with industry-leading biometric capabilities, enable large-scale on-premises and Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) solutions as well as customized enterprise and cloud solutions.

About CyberSecurity Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in information security and cybersecurity technology companies, products and people. The CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough information security companies and products in categories including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Web and Email Security, UTM, Firewall�and more. For more information visit CyberSecurityBreakthrough.com.

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement
All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). The words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology industry; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; our ability to execute and deliver on contracts in Africa; our ability to expand into Asia, Africa and other foreign markets; the duration and severity of the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our business operations, sales cycles, personnel, and the geographic markets in which we operate; delays in the development of products and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing as well as other factors set forth under the caption see "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, there may be other factors of which the Company is not currently aware that may affect matters discussed in forward-looking statements and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. In particular, the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak to economic conditions and the industry in general and the financial position and operating results of our Company, in particular, have been material, are changing rapidly, and cannot be predicted.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03727bff-14e8-47a7-a80e-be540f477ade

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BIO-key Media Contact:
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