Founded in 1994, NIC Products, Inc. is a recognized leader in the security seal industry, producing and marketing a line of seals that combine breakthrough technology with cost-effectiveness and versatility. NIC's seals are used all over the world by leading utilities, government agencies and laboratories. NIC is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, USA, with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the US and a secondary plant in Mexico for assembly and packaging.

History

NIC Products Inc. was founded in 1994 with the mission to develop the world's best tamper-evident security seals. In 1997, after three years of intensive design, development, and testing, NIC produced the Quickseal XLP. These one-piece wire (or "loop") seals were a break through in security seals due to the quality of the materials, ergonomics, ease-of-use, and the integrity of their indelible identification system.

NIC's seals were first put to the test by the United States Postal Service (USPS) - a high profile customer with a demanding application: to guarantee the security of its postage meters. A somewhat smaller version of the Quickseal XLP was created, and it was named the Quickseal LP.

While in use at the USPS, the outstanding performance of the Quickseal LP caught the attention of the United States Department of Defense. Subsequently, Quickseal LP and XLP seals were tested by the Los Alamos National Laboratory Vulnerability Assessment Team (LANLVAT), a world-renowned authority in the assessment of security seals. Besides being judged as the most effective wire seal available, the Quickseal received the highest form of endorsement-the lab began to use the Quickseal for their own applications! Subsequently, many other national labs began to use the Quickseal for their own sensitive materials safeguards programs.

NIC then turned its focus to providing solutions for revenue protection in the utility industry. The Quickseal LP and Quickseal XLP were enthusiastically adopted as highly effective means of preventing theft and tampering. To date, they have been used in various applications for electric meters, panels, transformers, demand meters, etc., as well as water and gas meters.

Looking Forward

Today, NIC is expanding is developing products to solve additional problems within the government sector, the utility industry, and additional industries. This year, for example, NIC introduced the Secu-Tape seal, a highly-secure, exceedingly tamper and counterfeit-resistant tape seal. The tape seal is useful for securing devices or equipment to which a wire seal can't be applied.

In addition, NIC is developing a seal to provide previously unavailable protection for demand meters and a seal that will solve major theft problems in the petroleum industry.

NIC realizes that effective security does not end with the application of a seal. To achieve the highest level of security, an overall security program is required. A major portion of any successful security program is a system for maintaining the "Chain of Custody" of security devices, i.e., a system that keeps track of who is accountable for a given seal at any given time. Such a system could be very complex and costly to implement, but NIC has the answer - Huru software. Huru software combines a secure but easy-to-use seal tracking system together with the latest technology in bar code scanning and signature authentication to provide a highly effective and economical means of maintaining the Chain of Custody. Increased accountability and ability to pinpoint causes of loss enables drastic reductions in revenue loss.