Avow Systems Partners with GeoTrust to Provide Authentic Document Delivery Services to Colleges and Universities
Solution to Leverage GeoTrust Certified Document Services to Prevent Alteration of Electronic Transcripts, Diplomas and Other Sensitive Documents
NEEDHAM, Mass., and DENVER, May 8 // -- GeoTrust, Inc., a leader in identity verification solutions for e-business and a leading issuer of digital certificates for web security and Avow Systems Inc., a systems integrator specializing in secure document delivery for the higher education market, today announced a partnership. Avow Systems will be utilizing GeoTrust's Certified Document Services to create a new secure electronic distribution service, which will be marketed by Avow as Authentic Document Delivery Service (+ADDS(TM)). This new solution will allow higher educational institutions to protect the integrity of electronic documents such as transcripts, diplomas and other high-value or sensitive documents.
Certified Document Services, developed jointly with Adobe Systems Incorporated, allows educational institutions to deliver electronic documents that are certified authentic and tamper-evident. Avow Systems introduced +ADDS in early 2006 in response to growing interest from major colleges and universities in implementing systems that prevent falsification of electronic documents such as transcripts, diplomas and admission letters.
"The American Council on Education estimates there are 400 to 500 'diploma mills' pumping out fraudulent documents and passing them off as legitimate," said Jay Johnson, co-founder and managing director Avow Systems. "In order for Avow to help its customers combat this problem, we needed to team up with leaders in the document production and authentication spaces. By coupling GeoTrust's Certified Document Services with our +ADDS solution, Avow provides the first services-based solution for ordering, processing, securing and delivering authentic documents to the higher education marketplace."
The service allows college registrars, admissions offices and other departments to create certified Adobe® PDF transcripts and other documents. Anyone using freely available Adobe Reader® software can open a certified document. When a recipient opens the certified electronic transcript, report or diploma, it is indicated clearly that the academic institution's identity has been verified by GeoTrust and that the document has not been altered. By integrating Certified Document Services into +ADDS, Avow can offer higher education customers the first end-to-end system for secure document creation and delivery.
Neal Creighton, CEO of GeoTrust, said, "The combined offerings of GeoTrust, Adobe and Avow Systems set a new standard for secure document delivery. The rise of online diploma mills has created a significant threat to legitimate universities and colleges, who see the value of their brands eroded as credentials are increasingly altered or falsified outright. Our solution offers schools one of the most straightforward ways to protect themselves and their students and alumni against those who would change grades, falsify admission letters and create fake transcripts."
+ADDS consists of five modular service components that are designed to run independently or in combination, giving institutions the ability to choose the services that meet their particular requirements and business objectives. Available services include:
o Online document ordering and tracking
o Document creation
o Document authentication
o Document rights management
o Document delivery
The +ADDS solution developed by Avow Systems, Inc. is unique in the industry. The solution can be rapidly deployed in an "on-premise" configuration or institutions can use the services-based "on-demand" approach. By offering colleges and universities the choice of deploying the solution in-house, or using a subscription- or transaction-based hosted services model, institutions have wide flexibility and can achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for their unique environments.
About GeoTrust, Inc.
GeoTrust is the leader in identity verification, credentialing and validation solutions, and the fastest growing Certificate Authority, according to market research firm Netcraft. Its products include web security services for secure e-commerce transactions, identity verification for consumers, managed security services for enterprises, digital signing for documents and computer code, and TrustWatch (http://www.trustwatch.com/), a free toolbar and search site that helps consumers recognize whether a site has been verified and is safe for the exchange of confidential information. With more than 100,000 companies worldwide using its technology for online security, GeoTrust has rapidly become the second largest digital certificate provider in the world. The company recently acquired TC TrustCenter, a leading German Certificate Authority and provider of advanced enterprise security and smart card solutions. Visit www.geotrust.com/ for more information.
About Avow Systems, Inc.
Avow Systems, Inc., headquartered in Denver, Colorado designs, develops, sells, implements and hosts solutions for the certification and delivery of secure electronic documents. The company has developed unique partnerships with software, hardware and consulting services providers that include Adobe(R), GeoTrust, nCipher and Tier1 Innovation, LLC. For more information, please visit http://www.avowsystems.com/.
GeoTrust and Certified Document Services are trademarks or registered trademarks of GeoTrust, Inc. Adobe and Reader are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contacts:
Joan Lockhart
GeoTrust, Inc.
781-292-4153
jlockhart@geotrust.com
Liz Serotte
Schwartz Communications, Inc.
781-684-0770
geotrust@schwartz-pr.com
Jay Johnson
Avow Systems, Inc.
303-324-7291
jjohnson@avowsystems.com
Source: GeoTrust, Inc.
CONTACT: Joan Lockhart of GeoTrust, Inc., +1-781-292-4153, jlockhart@geotrust.com; or Liz Serotte of Schwartz Communications, Inc.,
+1-781-684-0770, geotrust@schwartz-pr.com; or Jay Johnson of Avow
+Systems,
Inc., +1-303-324-7291, jjohnson@avowsystems.com
Web site: www.geotrust.com/
http://www.avowsystems.com/
