Awards and Achievements

Finalist for Microsoft Code Awards – 2008

May 1, 2008

Affinity Systems has been selected as a finalist at the 2008 Microsoft Canada Code Awards. The Code Awards are Microsoft's way of recognizing the very best in development.

Online threats to personal information through misrepresentation of authority have mushroomed both in frequency and sophistication over the last few years, especially as they relate to financial sectors. Most phishing attacks are launched through e-mail campaigns that are broadly distributed as spam. To be effective, an anti-phishing solution needs to scan millions of e-mail messages for potential incidents, and help a global incident response team coordinate and track a complex set of operations-involving contacting web site owners, domain registrars, ISPs and international CERT groups to remove the fraudulent content.

In response to the growing volume of fraudulent e-mail and web sites attacking e-commerce, Affinity Systems (in conjunction with their customer BD-BrandProtect) developed the Global Anti-Phishing System. A detection, takedown and tracking solution, the Global Anti-Phishing system uses sophisticated technology to achieve its objectives with accuracy and speed, coupled with personnel that facilitate necessary interaction among organizations.

Built with a host of Microsoft products including Visual Studio/.NET, ASP.NET, Internet Explorer (and its anti-phishing components), SQL Server 2005, Remote Desktop and more, the solution uses an e-mail honey pot that attracts millions of spam, UCE, and undeliverable messages, augmented by external feeds and abuse-reporting systems.

This system has allowed a small team of people spread around the world to work together effectively to detect, track and remove fraudulent content on the Internet. To date, we have processed hundreds of millions of e-mail messages and successfully detected and responded to tens of thousands of unique attacks. Our average time to take a site out of commission from the moment our software suspects it is less than 4 hours, with some sites taking fewer than 10 minutes to incapacitate.

2006 Microsoft Partner Program IMPACT Awards

November 2, 2006

Affinity Systems has been selected as a winner at the 2006 Microsoft Partner Program IMPACT Awards. The annual IMPACT Awards recognize excellence within the Canadian technology partner community, and the innovative solutions and value they bring to their customers. The winners were announced at a gala event in Toronto on November 2, 2006.

Affinity Systems was chosen as the winner in the Data Management Solution of the Year category for its development of the corporate brand protection software for Brandimensions Inc. Using this software, Brandimensions is able to provide its customers with high-quality, actionable incidence reports that include details of link errors or infractions, lapses in website availability, misrepresentations of brand affiliation, scatological references to a client's brands, as well as other material that might cast a client or a product in a negative light.

Best Mid-Market Solution category at the 2006 Channel Elite Awards - Bronze

October 18, 2006

Affinity Systems has been selected as a bronze winner in the Best Mid-Market Solution category at the 2006 Channel Elite Awards. Channel Elite Awards recognize the achievements of IT channel professionals. These are the people who build technology solutions for all types of businesses - from leading national corporations to local retailers. The Channel Elite Awards were announced in Toronto at the Paramount Conference & Event Venue on October 18, 2006.

For more information on the Channel Elite Awards and a list of the 2006 winners, please visit http://www.itbusiness.ca/cea/index.html.

2006 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards

July 13, 2006

Affinity Systems is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a winner at the 2006 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. The awards recognize Microsoft Registered, Certified and Gold Certified partners that delivered exemplary solutions for their customers during the past year. The award winners were selected from a group of finalists based on their dedicated use of Microsoft technologies to provide solutions for their customers’ needs. Winners were announced on July 13, 2006 at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2006 held in Boston.

For more information on the Microsoft Partner Program Awards and a list of the 2006 winners, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/jul06/07-13WWPCAwardWinnerPR.mspx