GuardID and Equifax to Co-Promote Consumer Solutions for ID Theft Protection

GuardID Systems™ today announced it has entered into a co-marketing agreement with Equifax. Under the agreement Equifax will offer ID Vault and the GuardID Trusted Network to its base of Equifax Personal Solutions customers. In addition, GuardID’s ID Vault retail package will include a special offer for Equifax Credit Watch™, an industry-leading credit monitoring product. ID Vault is the industry’s first two-factor authentication solution available directly to consumers.

"Equifax is already the leader in monitoring consumers’ credit information to help them protect their identities," said Chris Atwood, vice president of product management for Equifax Personal Solutions. "Those consumers will also benefit from ID Vault, which provides an innovative solution to protect their online financial accounts."

Consumers use the ID Vault to securely store user names and passwords outside of the PC to protect themselves against keyboard loggers, phishing, pharming and other online threats. Based on proven smart card technology, the ID Vault is a removable USB device that plugs into the USB port of any Windows XP or Vista-enabled PC.

ID Vault works with the GuardID Trusted Network — a network that constantly monitors the security and integrity of Internet addresses for thousands of financial institutions and brokerages. By accessing online service providers through the GuardID Trusted Network, consumers can be confident they are visiting a legitimate site and not a fraudulent copy.

ID Vault is easy to use and portable. It can also be used with any non- financial Web site that requires a sign-in, such as online newspapers, email or other Web destinations. It is available directly to consumers over the Internet and at leading merchants like Comp USA, Circuit City and Best Buy. The suggested retail price is $49.99.

The risks to online consumers addressed by ID Vault continue to grow. Approximately 109 million U.S. adults received phishing e-mail attacks in 2006 according to a new survey announced by Gartner, Inc. in November 2006. Respondents reported an average loss per victim of $1,244, up nearly fivefold from a year ago. In a news release, Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, said she believes this is because "thieves seem to be targeting higher-income earners who are also more likely to transact on the Internet."

<!–PAGEBREAK–>  

"Everyone is asking the banks and other online companies to solve these security problems; we’re turning that thinking upside down by giving online banking customers a way to protect themselves," said Jeff Scheel, executive vice president of GuardID Systems. "To have a company of the stature of Equifax promote our solution to their customers is a great testimony to the value of our approach."