The Carlyle Group Managing Director Robert Grady Joins AuthenTec's Board of Directors

Melbourne, FL & Washington - AuthenTec, Inc., the leading semiconductor provider of fingerprint sensors to the global market, today announced that Robert Grady, Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, has been elected to the company's Board of Directors.

Mr. Grady is the managing partner of The Carlyle Group's flagship U.S. venture funds, Carlyle Venture Partners I and II. He is also a Director of Carlyle portfolio companies Panasas, Secure Elements, Ingenio, and USBX, and is a former director of Blackboard (Nasdaq: "BBBB"). In addition, he coordinates Carlyle's global venture capital operations, which have more than $1.6 billion under management.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Grady was Managing Director and member of the management committee at Robertson Stephens. At Robertson Stephens, he led financings for and advised many leading technology and business services companies including InVision (Nasdaq: INVN), Printrak (acquired by Motorola), Eltron (acquired by Zebra), Barringer (acquired by Smith Group PLC), Fritz Companies (acquired by UPS), Bamboo (acquired by Ipix), OSI Systems (Nasdaq: OSIS), Flir Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR) and many others.

Previously, Mr. Grady served in the White House as Deputy Assistant to President George Bush; as Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); as Associate Director of OMB for Natural Resources, Energy and Science; as Chief Speechwriter and Senior Advisor for the successful 1988 Bush/Quayle Presidential Campaign; as Director of Communications for New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean; and as Legislative Assistant and then Chief of Staff to U.S. Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick (R-NJ).

Mr. Grady was recently appointed by President Bush to be a member of the Advisory Committee on Trade and Policy Negotiations (ACTPN) and by the Administrator of NASA to be a member of the NASA Advisory Council's Task Force on the cost and management of the International Space Station.

"I am pleased to join AuthenTec's Board of Directors, and look forward to working with Scott Moody and the company's strong management team as it continues to build on its market leadership in providing biometric security solutions to the commercial marketplace," said Mr. Grady. "Fingerprint identification, is creating a new level of security and convenience in areas like wireless phones and devices, computers, access control and automobiles. AuthenTec's technology has made it the leader in providing semiconductor solutions for just these kinds of biometric applications."

"We are delighted to have Bob Grady join our already strong Board of Directors," said Scott Moody, co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of AuthenTec. "His in-depth industry knowledge, broad experiences, and wealth of contacts and connections will be invaluable assets to the company as we continue to expand our reach into domestic and international markets."

The addition of Mr. Grady expands the number of members on AuthenTec's Board from five to six. He joins the company's other distinguished board members, including: Mr. Moody; Phillip W. Farmer, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS); Matthew P. Crugnale, President of Crugnale Associates; Ben Yu, Venture Partner at Sierra Ventures; and Gustav H. Koven, Managing Director of Knickerbocker LLC.

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