New option announced for automated fingerprint IDs

Cogent Systems Inc. has made its fingerprint identification software products available on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Solaris platform — a move that will give crime fighters yet another way to automate investigations.

The move represents a marriage of hardware and software already widely used in the government market. Cogent makes automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) software that law enforcement agencies use to match fingerprints with their owners. Sun, meanwhile, sells hardware to government agencies including the Army, the Navy and law enforcement agencies.

Sun officials touted the arrival of Cogent products to the Solaris platform as yet another entree for small law enforcement agencies to automate print searches.

"Cogent's selection of the Sun hardware and server platform underscores the strength our products bring to government operations," said Thomas Kreidler, president of Sun Microsystems Federal. "Sun's Enterprise servers and Solaris operating environment, together with Cogent's expertise in advanced fingerprinting systems, provide law enforcement agencies a state-of-the-art solution to expedite the processing of criminal suspects."