04/20/2007

IBM today announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approved the IBM Global Name Scoring software with the highest level of recognition possible under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 ("SAFETY Act"). Global Name Scoring received both designation as a qualified anti-terrorism technology and certification as an approved product for homeland security.

ebizQ received the following:

This certification signifies that DHS has determined that the technology will perform as intended, conforms to specifications, and is safe for use as intended. SAFETY Act coverage provides significant liability protection to sellers of qualifying products and their customers.

Based on an industry-leading patented technology, Global Name Scoring software recognizes and searches names from all major cultures, supporting users who must screen potential threats and perform background checks across multiple geographies and languages. It can be utilized for a number of security applications ranging from intelligence gathering and analysis to security screening, and is fully-compliant with the specifications in section 202 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002.

The SAFETY Act is a key part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and encourages development and deployment of anti-terrorism technologies by providing liability protections to sellers of qualified anti-terrorism technologies. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that the threat of liability does not deter potential manufacturers or sellers of anti-terrorism technologies from developing and commercializing technologies that could save lives.

The Act also creates certain liability limitations for claims relating to acts of terrorism where qualified anti-terrorism technologies have been deployed. In accordance with DHS's interpretation of the Act, the liability protections extend to other companies in the supply chain, including customers using approved technologies.

Global Name Scoring software improves the accuracy of name searching, transliteration and the quality of identity verification by providing ranked search results based on the linguistic, phonetic, and specific cultural variation patterns of names. It works from a knowledge base of information focused on the specific culture of a name and utilizes rules associated with that type of name to improve matching and search results.

SAFETY Act coverage for Global Name Scoring software is a significant achievement and offers important benefits to both IBM and its customers.

To date, only about 100 products have received both Designation and Certification, thus placing them on the Approved Product List for Homeland Security (https://www.safetyact.gov/). Global Name Scoring is the only technology on the Approved Product List that provides name search and name matching capabilities.