BEDFORD, Mass., April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aware, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWRE), a leading supplier of technology and software for the telecommunications and biometrics industries, today announced that Edmund C. Reiter has resigned, effective April 1, 2011, as President and Chief Executive Officer and director of the board of the company citing personal reasons.  

Richard P. Moberg, CFO and Kevin T. Russell, General Counsel have been named co-CEOs and co-Presidents on an interim basis.  Mr. Moberg has served as Aware's CFO since February 2008 and previously served as CFO from June 1996 to October 2003.  Mr. Russell has been with Aware since April 2000 and has served as General Counsel since September 2005.

Mr. Moberg and Mr. Russell said, "We thank Ed for his many years of dedicated service to Aware.  Ed's numerous and valuable contributions to Aware included building the company's biometrics and imaging business as well as the company's DSL test and diagnostic business.  The company is fortunate that he has left behind two strong organizations that are well positioned for the future.  We wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Mr. Reiter will continue to serve as a consultant to the company during a transition period.  The company has begun the search process for a new CEO.

About Aware

Aware is a leading technology and software supplier for the telecommunications and biometrics industries. Aware has pioneered innovations at telecommunications standards-setting organizations for DSL and home networking. Telecom equipment vendors and phone companies use Aware's DSL test and diagnostics modules and Dr. DSL® software to provision and troubleshoot DSL circuits globally. Aware is also a veteran of the biometrics industry, providing biometric and imaging software components used in government systems worldwide since 1992. Aware's interoperable, standard-compliant, field-proven imaging products are used in a number of applications, from border management to criminal justice to medical imaging. Aware is a publicly held company (NASDAQ: AWRE) based in Bedford, Massachusetts.  www.aware.com

Safe Harbor Warning

Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties, such as estimates or projections of future revenue and earnings and the growth of the DSL test and diagnostics and biometrics markets. Aware wishes to caution you that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. General factors include, but are not limited to: our quarterly results are unpredictable and may fluctuate significantly; our business is subject to rapid technological change; we face intense competition from a wide range of competitors; current economic conditions, including the credit crisis affecting the financial markets; our intellectual property is subject to limited protection; our ability to obtain or enforce patents could be affected by new laws, regulations or rules; and our business may be affected by government regulations. DSL test and diagnostic factors include, but are not limited to: our DSL test and diagnostic businesses depend upon a limited number of customers; the success of our DSL test and diagnostics products businesses requires telephone companies to install DSL service in volume; our test and diagnostic hardware and software products could have quality problems; we depend on a single source contract manufacturer for the manufacture of our DSL hardware products; and we are dependent on single source suppliers for components in our DSL hardware products. Biometric factors include, but are not limited to: market acceptance of our biometric technologies and products; changes in contracting practices of government or law enforcement agencies; the failure of the biometrics market to experience continued growth; announcements or introductions of new technologies or products by our competitors; failures or problems in our biometric software products; delays in the adoption of new industry biometric standards; growth of proprietary biometric systems which do not conform to industry standards; our ability to sell services contracts in a manner that is consistent with our business model; our ability to deliver services contract milestones; and our dependence on third party contractors and consultants to deliver certain services contract milestones. We refer you to the documents Aware files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 and other reports and filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aware and Dr. DSL are trademarks or registered trademarks of Aware, Inc.

Any other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Aware, Inc.