Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc. has announced it has received two 2023 "ASTORS" Homeland Security Awards from American Security Today (AST). The company was awarded Platinum in the categories of Best Access Control and Authentication System and Best Biometric Reader Solution for its Advanced Authentication Manager (AAM) solution.

American Security Today's Annual "ASTORS" Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program. Now in its eighth year, it continues to recognize industry leaders of physical and border security, cybersecurity, emergency preparedness — management and response, law enforcement, first responders, as well as federal, state and municipal government agencies in the acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to keep our nation secure. The program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.

Konica Minolta's AAM solution utilizes user biometric identification rather than the standard passwords or potentially insecure IC cards for print management applications running on Konica Minolta bizhub devices, eliminating common issues such as password fatigue and poor password hygiene that often lead to security breaches. No biometric data is stored in the fingerprint reader, on the MFP or within the AAM server. In addition, it provides functions such as device management and user management required for maintaining security.

"We are honored to be recognized by American Security Today's 2023 'ASTORS' Awards for our ability to prevent unauthorized access to secure documents held in print management applications through our Advanced Authentication Manager solution," said Chris Bilello, vice president of business solutions development, Konica Minolta. "People are experiencing password fatigue. Many users in the workforce feel they have too many passwords to remember, and admittedly use the same password or simple variations of a single password — a leading cause of company data breaches. Our solution helps customers who use Konica Minolta MFPs to prevent more of these breaches, and we are extremely pleased to have our work acknowledged by such a prestigious organization."

"The 'ASTORS' nominations are evaluated on their technical innovation, interoperability, specific impact within the category, overall impact to the industry, relatability to other industry technologies and application feasibility outside of the industry," said Tammy Waitt, co-founder and editorial director, American Security Today.

"As the nation continues to respond to escalating threats from home and abroad, the innovative solutions being implemented to meet those threats has led to tremendous growth in the field of homeland security," said Michael Madsen, co-founder and publisher, American Security Today. "Today, the United States is increasingly focusing on protecting IT/cybersecurity networks ,and is calling on innovative companies like Konica Minolta to help them do so."