Aware and Comunica Group to Meet Surging Demand for Biometric Authentication in Central America

Collaboration Will Enable Both Companies to Better Serve Customers in the Region with Innovative, Cutting-Edge Biometrics-Based Authentication Solutions 

BURLINGTON, MASS. – August 21, 2024 – On New Year’s Eve 2023, Columbian Brian Quintero checked his online banking app to discover that cybercriminals had emptied all of the money he had – approximately $760 USD. Quintero’s neobank indicated that it was highly likely that cybercriminals had illegally used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate movement in photographs of Mr. Quintero’s face, thus circumventing the app’s security protocols.

Unfortunately, Mr. Quintero’s experience had been just one of several thousand seen by Latin American banks and their account holders in the preceding months. While financial institutions are the heaviest targets of cybercrime in Latin America, other businesses and governments in the region are also seeing a sharp uptick. In fact, it’s estimated that Latin American companies experience some 1,600 cyberattacks per second.

These escalating threats are especially ominous in Central America – a highly sought-after growth area for banks and businesses around the world with a 2023 GDP that well surpassed the global average. Moreover, organizations of all types are facing increasingly sophisticated security challenges as they expand operations in the region, especially in the areas of identity theft, fraud and unauthorized access. These threats are carving out a huge regional need for robust, advanced security solutions, specifically biometrics, which are expected to play a pivotal role in transforming the security landscape across Central America.

To meet this market need, Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), a leading global authentication company, is teaming up with Comunica Group, a Central America-based specialist in professional and technical services, IT services and IT consulting, to provide advanced digital identity and authentication solutions to enterprises, governments and financial institutions across the region.

“Separately, both Aware and Comunica Group have been providing state-of-the-art biometric solutions to Central American organizations, with each company providing unique elements of their global digital identity expertise,” says Jürgen Nolte, CEO, Comunica Group. “However, as fraudsters are stepping up their game – enterprises, governments and financial institutions need us even more. That is why Aware and Comunica Group are seeing the need to consolidate our capabilities to serve these important customers.”

“As the latest addition to Aware’s rapidly expanding partner program, Comunica Group is an excellent example of a solutions provider that can partner with Aware to enhance its biometric and digital identity offerings in the face of escalating illegal threats,” says Craig Herman, Chief Revenue Officer, Aware. “Additionally, this collaboration will help us continue to expand Aware’s market reach in the fast-growing Central American region.”

About Aware
Aware is a global biometric platform company that uses data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to tackle everyday business and identity challenges through biometrics. For over 30 years we’ve been a trusted name in the field. Aware’s offerings address the growing challenges that government and commercial enterprises face in knowing, authenticating and securing individuals through frictionless and highly secure user experiences. Our algorithms are based on diverse operational data sets from around the world, and we prioritize making biometric technology in an ethical and responsible manner. Aware is a publicly held company (NASDAQ: AWRE) based in Burlington, Massachusetts. To learn more, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn and X. 

Safe Harbor Warning
Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as our expectations regarding our new product. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements, including the risks that i) a significant commercial market for biometrics technology may not develop, and if it does, we may not be successful in that market; ii) the biometrics market may not experience significant growth or our products may not achieve broad acceptance; iii) we face intense competition from other biometrics solution providers; iv) our business is subject to rapid technological change; v) our software products may have errors, defects or bugs which could harm our business; and vi) part of our future business is dependent on market demand for, and acceptance of, the cloud-based model for the use of software. We refer you to the documents Aware files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and other reports and filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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CONTACT

Delaney Gembis
Aware, Inc.
781-687-0393
marketing@aware.com