ID Secure Helps Prevent ID Fraud With Leading-Edge Monitoring, Detection and Alerts NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Affinion Group, a leading global affinity marketer, has launched a sophisticated new tool that uses cutting- edge public records, Social Security number and credit card monitoring technology to fight ID theft - the fastest growing crime in America. Branded ID Secure, this revolutionary new solution arms consumers with an unprecedented way to proactively manage their identity information and avert potential ID theft and fraud. ID Secure combines comprehensive personal information monitoring, public records management control and ID scoring technology from MyPublicInfo (http://www.mypublicinfo.com/), a wholly owned subsidiary of BrightStar Information Technology Group, Inc., (OTC:BTSR) (BULLETIN BOARD: BTSR) and a leader in consumer identity protection, with credit card monitoring from CardCops, a data analysis technology solutions leader, and Social Security number and synthetic ID monitoring from Edentify, Inc. (OTC:EDFY) (BULLETIN BOARD: EDFY) , a leading provider of identity management and fraud detection solutions. Affinion Group partnered with these enterprising companies earlier this year to create innovative new products, services and strategies to thwart the spiraling crime of ID theft. "These revolutionary new technologies keep consumers one step ahead of would-be ID thieves, and is perhaps their best chance of avoiding identity- related criminal abuse," said Frank Abagnale, an Affinion Group spokesperson, former master forger and leading fraud prevention expert, whose life story inspired Steven Spielberg's movie Catch Me if You Can. "Punishment for fraud and recovery of stolen funds is so rare, prevention is the only viable course of action. Combining these comprehensive technologies into ID Secure provides unsurpassed prevention." Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, with 27.3 million victims in the past five years, and nearly 20 million in the past two years alone, according to a study from Javelin Strategy & Research. This crime costs more than $56 billion, or $6,383 per victim, annually, and has become so prevalent, that an identity thief strikes on average every 3.5 seconds. ID Secure fights ID theft with these innovative weapons: * Public records management and control, called a Personal Information Profile - this powerful tool delivers a comprehensive report of consumers' public records, so they can detect potential public record manipulation. It also shows others who have similar identities (i.e.: similar names, address, age), so consumers can be aware of potential mistaken identity before it happens. * Proactive personal data, social security number and credit card monitoring, called Data Sweep - that monitors your name, address, phone and other personal information in certain Internet directories, with tools to request removal of the information from the public eye. Proprietary technology scans billions of public records to detect unauthorized activity, including attempts to manipulate your SSN to create a synthetic identity. And, a real time early warning system protects you from credit card fraud - before it happens. * ID theft resolution & insurance - A dedicated caseworker will assist victims of ID theft with restoring their names. Victims also receive up to $10,000 in ID theft insurance (no deductible), that covers certain legal fees, lost wages and other out-of-pocket expenses. * ID scoring, education & awareness - an online National Fraud Score survey assesses an individual's vulnerability to identity theft, identity manipulation or mistaken identity. Resources, tools and tips on fraud prevention and public record management are also available. "As a leader in credit monitoring and identity theft protection, we are excited to incorporate these advanced technologies into our suite of solutions that includes PrivacyGuard, PC Safety Plus and HotLine," said Tom Rusin, chief revenue officer and general manager of Affinion Group. "Our new protection products are ushering in a new era of identity fraud protection that will benefit Affinion's more than 4,500 marketing partners and their customers across multiple industries." Affinion Group was the first to develop a membership credit monitoring product in 1992, and remains one of the largest providers of identity theft solutions in the U.S. The next frontier in ID theft and fraud protection is ID scoring, which assesses vulnerability to ID theft, manipulation and mistaken identity. According to a recent Gartner Inc. report, "identity scoring for consumers will overtake credit report monitoring as an effective ID theft prevention tool by the end of 2009," said Dr. Harold Kraft, CEO of MyPublicInfo. About Affinion Group Affinion Group (http://www.affiniongroup.com/) is a leading affinity direct marketer of value-added membership, insurance and package enhancement programs and services to consumers. With more than 30 years of experience, Affinion Group currently offers its programs and services worldwide through more than 4,500 affinity partners. Its diversified base of affinity partners includes leading companies in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, retail, travel, telecommunications, utilities and Internet. Affinion Group also has a growing loyalty solutions operation that administers points-based loyalty programs. Based in Norwalk, Conn., Affinion Group has approximately 3,600 employees throughout the United States and in 14 countries across Europe. Affinion Group has established itself as a premiere security, credit monitoring and identity theft protection innovator. It launched HotLine, a leading ID theft, credit card, fraud protection and security service in 1969. PrivacyGuard, a comprehensive membership credit monitoring product which was created in 1992, remains one of the largest in the U.S. Other ID theft protection services in Affinion's thriving security business include PC SafetyPlus, an identity theft software service that protects members with a personal firewall to thwart hackers and other online ID threats. PC SafetyPlus software features automatic updates and service upgrades for protection against prevailing computer viruses, spyware and worms. About MyPublicInfo MyPublicInfo, Inc. (MPI) a wholly owned subsidiary of BrightStar Information Technology Group, Inc., (OTC:BTSR) (BULLETIN BOARD: BTSR) , was founded in Arlington, Virginia in 2004 and is the leading provider of consumer identity and public records management services. MPI sells the most comprehensive consumer products available through http://www.identitysweep.com/ and http://www.mypublicinfo.com/, partner web sites, and other marketing channels. For more information or orders, please go to http://www.identitysweep.com/. About CardCops CardCops protects consumers from identity theft by providing them with the means of determining whether their credit card, social security number, or other personal information has been compromised, even before it is used to commit a crime; and helps global Internet merchants reduce losses due to fraud by identifying transactions involving stolen credit cards. CardCops collects compromised data from cyberspace and makes it available in "real time" to consumers, merchants and banks. CardCops began scouring cyberspace for compromised personal and financial information in 2000, and has supplied information to the Credit Card Associations, the FBI, the Secret Service, various Attorneys General offices, and other law enforcement agencies. What is unique about much of the data found by CardCops is that it has not yet been used maliciously, and therefore enables the CardCops customer to take pro- active steps to prevent identity theft and fraud from occurring. About Edentify, Inc. Edentify, Inc. ("Edentify"), headquartered in Bethlehem, Pa., was formed in August 2004 with the objective of becoming the leading organization in the field of developing and deploying data analysis technology solutions for preventing identity theft and fraud. It is currently a later development-stage company and expects shortly to begin a period of increased growth. Edentify will seek to fulfill its goals by analyzing the means by which identity crimes are perpetrated and through the development of new technologies and procedures to assist corporations, the government and consumers in the fight against identity fraud and related crime. Edentify owns the intellectual property rights to two strategic approaches towards the detection and prevention of identity fraud. One is a patented information-based approach that analyzes identity data information for individuals in large databases and is capable of detecting and scoring incidences of identity manipulation and potential theft (Identity Quotient Index(TM)). The forerunner of this technology is currently used in screening identities used for new checking account applications at nearly every major bank in the U.S. Edentify will continue to market this technology to other areas of the financial services industry, as well as to large healthcare organizations and local, state and federal governments. The second approach is a biometric technology that will be marketed through and is named after our wholly-owned subsidiary, InMotion Biometrics, Inc. ("IMB"). This novel set of algorithms combines face and voice recognition techniques for authenticating the identity of an individual. The IMB technology is licensed from face2face, Inc., a leading character animation company that was spun off from Lucent Technologies, Inc. in 2000. The core capability of this technology is its facial analysis system that contains highly evolved algorithms for obtaining the inner lip contour, which can accurately measure for optimal visual speech recognition performance. Additionally, the system is designed as a multi-modal platform capable of combining the reading of two or more biometric technologies simultaneously. For more information, please see our website: http://www.edentify.us/. Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Frank W. Abagnale http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=39784 DATASOURCE: Affinion Group CONTACT: Todd Smith, +1-615-764-2598, or +1-615-202-7944 (Cell), or Andrea Lindsley, +1-615-780-3315, or +1-615-415-8886 (Cell), both of Affinion Group; or Kathleen Schneider of MyPublicInfo, +1-310-821-6100 x111; or Mike Brown of CardCops, +1-310-691-5440; or Mike Lizun of Edentify, +1-610-642-8253, or +1-610-585-7594 (Cell) Web site: http://www.mypublicinfo.com/ http://www.affiniongroup.com/ http://www.identitysweep.com/ http://www.edentify.us/

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