ABBYY FineReader Engine

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	ABBYY FineReader Engine is a software development kit (SDK) that allows software developers to create applications that extract textual information from paper documents, images or displays. This AI-powered optical character recognition (OCR) SDK provides your application with excellent text recognition, portable document format (PDF) conversion, and data capture functionalities, enabling it to convert scans into searchable PDF, Word or Excel documents, and access data on photos or screenshots. The TRM decisions in this entry only apply to technologies and versions owned, operated, managed, patched, and version-controlled by VA. This includes technologies deployed as software installations on VMs within VA-controlled cloud environments (e.g., VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC)). Cloud services provided by the VAEC, which are listed in the VAEC Service Catalog, and those controlled and managed by an external Cloud Service Provider (i.e., SaaS) are not in the purview of the TRM. For more information on the use of cloud services and cloud-based products within VA, including VA private clouds, please see the Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO) Portal at: https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/OITECSO Please note this technology is different from ABBYY FineReader.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has not been assessed by the Section 508 Office. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v24.6
Decision Date:	06/18/2024 at 17:39:03 UTC
Aliases:	FineReader Engine
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	ABBYY

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
12.x	09/29/2023

Current Decision Matrix (06/11/2024)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

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12.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Decision Constraints


[1]	Users must ensure that Microsoft Edge is implemented with VA-approved baselines. (Refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’) This technology must not be used with Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) as it is unapproved for use at this time. There are other approved java environments available. See Category tab for details. Users must utilize approved internet browsers, as Microsoft Internet Explorer has reached End of Life status. See Category Tab for details.Users must utilize approved internet browsers, as Microsoft Internet Explorer has reached End of Life status. See Category Tab for details. The Federal Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certification status of this technology was not able to be verified. This technology must not be used to handle any data containing PHI/PII or VA sensitive information, unless FIPS 140-2 encryption can be enabled, or a 3rd party FIPS 140-2 certified solution [is or can be] deployed to protect it. Users should not utilize Bitmap Image File (BMP), as it is divested for use on the TRM. Per the Initial Product Review, users must abide by the following constraints: ABBYY FineReader Engine will require a 3rd party FIPS 140-2 (or its successor) certified solution for any data containing Protected Health Information (PHI)/Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or VA sensitive information. Due to potential information security risks, SaaS/PaaS solutions must complete the Veterans-Focused Integration Process Request (VIPR) process where a collaborative effort between Demand Management (DM), Enterprise Program Management Office Information Assurance (EPMO IA), Digital Transformation Center (DTC), Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and stakeholders determines the SaaS/PaaS category during the Discovery Phase. All SaaS and Non-AWS or Azure (VAEC) PaaS assets are routed to EPMO IA for Analysis and Approval to Operate (ATO) with technical oversight, acquisition, production, and sustainment provided by DTC. The use of AI is increasing, and guidance is still developing. Users must check the most recent VA guidance before using AI technologies and solutions. Consideration should be given to the source of any initial data for the AI tool, if any VA data will be collected and ingested into the data set, where that data will be stored, and what rights the VA has to that data. No web-based, publicly available generative AI service has been approved for use with VA-sensitive data. Examples of these include OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT4, Google’s Bard, Anthropic’ s Claude, and Microsoft’s new Bing. VA follows existing federal requirements and processes to ensure VA data is protected. When users enter information into an unapproved web-based tool, VA loses control of the data.

[2]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISSO (Information System Security Officer) to ensure compliance with both VA Handbook 6500 and VA Directive 6500.

[3]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[4]	Due to potential information security risks for cloud-based technologies, users should coordinate closely with their facility ISSO for guidance and assistance on cloud products. If further guidance is needed contact the Enterprise Cloud Solution Office (ECSO), which is the body responsible for new software development in and migration of existing systems to the VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) and ensuring organizational information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and VA sensitive data are not compromised within the VAEC. For information about Software as a Service (SaaS) products or to submit a SaaS product request, visit the Product Marketplace. (Ref: VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517, VA Directive 6513 and VA Directive 6102).

[5]	The Federal Information Processing standards (FIPS) 140-2 certification status of this technology was not able to be verified. This technology will require a 3rd party FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 certified solution for any data containing PHI/PII or VA sensitive information, where applicable. More information regarding the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) can be found on the NIST website.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 12.5.15.7 was the most current version, released 09/29/2023.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Collaboration and Electronic Workplace Productivity Software	File Manager and Viewer

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

macOS - Approved w/Constraints
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Hyper-V Server (Stand-alone Edition) - (required for some configurations)
JDK - Oracle Java Standard Edition (SE) Development Kit - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Microsoft Edge. - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) - (required for some configurations)
Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) - (required for some configurations)

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This technology may improve productivity for specific staff whose responsibilities include creating applications that extract textual information from paper documents, images or displays.
At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.
This technology supports several industry standard file formats.
This is a well-documented technology.

Adoption Risks

The technology requires the purchase of licenses from vendor, which could potentially lead to vendor lock-in.
Although this vendor utilizes Federal Information Processing (FIPS) 140-2 encryption, there is no indication based on the vendor documentation or the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) that this technology is Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 certified.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
This technology can potentially use Bitmap Image File (BMP), an unapproved technology.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, a dependency of this technology, is in End-of-Life status and must no longer be used.
This technology can potentially use Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK), an unapproved protocol.
IPR/SAR Adoption Risk - ABBYY Finereader Engine is not Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 (or its successor) certified.
IPR/SAR Adoption Risk - This product can be configured to work with cloud technologies.
IPR/SAR Adoption Risk - The product has the capability to utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Bitmap Image File (BMP), an optional dependency of this technology, is in a divested state at the time of writing.

Architectural Benefits

This technology is compatible with virtual machines, therefore consistent with the enterprise Server Virtualize First Policy (VAIQ 7266972 08-27-2012). (Add Virtualization and Consolidation of Servers (Server Virtualize First) to Supported Standards)
This technology is portable as it runs on multiple TRM-approved operating systems.

Architectural Risks

This technology includes cloud-based functionality which has potential information security risks.

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General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (06/11/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (06/11/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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