Here you can find the older Biometric News of 2009. (Newest on top).
Every week, a selection of this news has been published in the Weekly Biometrics Newsletter.
You can subscribe to this (free) Newsletter by sending an e-mail to rene.bense@xs4all.nl
Banking heavily on the use of biometrics, the ten-digit Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the 16-digit Unique Identification (UID) Number are set to be linked up. The government has decided to link the plan for biometric PAN cards with the UID project. The finance ministry has already begun talking to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in this regard. "We are having discussions with the finance ministry. Both projects will be using biometrics, so it is a good choice," UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani told Financial Express.
A scheme to collect biometrics data from people seeking asylum in Australia will be introduced to crack down on identity fraud in both Sydney and Melbourne. The scheme will see protection visa applicants asked to voluntarily provide a digital facial image and a scan of their fingerprints. Participation in the first six months would be "voluntary", but at the end of the pilot the Government would consider making it compulsory, Senator Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship said in a statement.
James M. Cummings, Barnstable County (Massachusetts) sheriff, received a new tool to help his police department catalog criminals and recover missing persons. The Child Project and the Senior Safety Net systems can be used to track missing children and senior citizens; IRIS (Inmate Recognition and Identification System) catalogs inmates as they enter prisons and houses of corrections; and SORIS (Sex Offender Recognition and Information System) complements sex offender registries.
CSC announced that the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation awarded the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025:2005 accreditation to the company's Test Lab, which is part of the CSC Identity Labs located in Fairmont, W.Va. The Test Lab is the second biometrics test laboratory in the world to achieve this accomplishment.
The Israeli Knesset has voted in favor of a bill for a compulsory biometric database of all citizens. The Biometrics Database Law passed the Knesset 40 votes in favor to 11 against. A big row over privacy forced the bill back to the drawing board. This led to the idea of a two-year trial rather than a full-blown introduction. Three months before the end of that period ministers will decide to adopt or ditch the technology.
Approximately 10 percent of U.K. schools are deploying biometric technologies, according to Alasdair Darroch, director of Biostore. In addition to using biometric technologies in school libraries, they are being used for registration, catering, access control, and for use of printers and photocopiers, he said.
The coming year will see a tipping point in use of biometric identification tools such as iris, facial or fingerprint scans, to verify identity at the border and customs areas in airports. Unisys experts point out that many governments have invested in an electronic passport infrastructure, but not yet used it. Unisys expects increased rollout of electronic passports which contain a chip to store biometric data that can be matched to its owner to verify that the person carrying the passport is the owner of the passport.
The securityindex report can be downloaded on:
http://www.unisyssecurityindex.com/report-download.asp
San Diego-based CareFusion has been putting fingerprint scanners in its medication cabinets since 1999 and in 2001 the company made it a standard in all its Pyxis medication dispensing units. The medication cabinets are used by nurses and pharmacists to obtain controlled medication for patients. Staff enter an ID, what medication they're looking for, what patients it's for and are then authenticated using the fingerprint scanner.
British immigration authorities are introducing fingerprint checks at the border for Indian and other passengers with biometric UK visas, entry clearances and identity cards for foreign nationals. On arrival in the United Kingdom, these passengers will have their fingerprints scanned at border control in addition to the normal checks.
Law enforcement agencies in south-eastern Michigan will benefit from a new initiative developed by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) that modernizes the process used to accurately identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens from the community. Formerly as part of the booking process, arrestees' fingerprints were taken and checked for criminal history information against the DOJ biometric system maintained by the FBI. With the implementation of Secure Communities Wayne County, the fingerprint information will now be simultaneously checked against both the FBI criminal history records and the biometrics-based immigration records maintained by the DHS.
RITE Biometrics integrates fingerprint scanning with Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) Store Operations.
Video
On Track Innovations, a global leader in contactless microprocessor-based smart card solutions for homeland security, payments, petroleum payments, eID Systems and other applications, announced that it has signed a contract for the supply, transfer, maintenance and operation of an electronic identification related product based on OTI's Magna platform. As part of the contract, OTI will supply its end-to-end solution, based on its proprietary ID Registry Magna platform. OTI's system which will be deployed nationwide, provides advanced software for ID management, bundled with secure biometric contactless cards. OTI will also provide mobile enrollment stations, and will incorporate a biometric Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
The Fort Crawford Elementary School, located in the Pittsburgh area, has implemented a pilot program allowing its students to utilize biometrics to pay for their lunch instead of money or an access code. The new system, developed by School-Link Technologies, enables children to scan a finger that is connected to their lunch account when at the register in their cafeteria and have their lunch account debited accordingly. One of the main reasons the school has employed such a system is to combat the problem of its younger students forgetting the six-digit PIN the previous system required for debiting school lunch accounts. Additionally, the system provides cafeteria workers a way to allow children who qualify for free-lunch programs to use the program without broadcasting it.
Tychi Systems, a leading manufacturer of fingerprint door locks, expanded their patented biometric technology to a line of safes. The BKK line of safes recognize fingerprints for access, eliminating problems of lost keys and combinations or fraudulent entry. Up to 100 users can be enrolled with their fingerprints by the Administrator, who can selectively delete them as well. In addition to the security of absolute identification by fingerprint, the BKK safes also retain an audit trail of entries by name, time and date.
Neurotechnology, a provider of high-precision biometric identification technologies, has released a new upgrade in the company's core product line: MegaMatcher 3.1 SDK for large-scale multi-biometric and automated fingerprint identification systems (AFIS). MegaMatcher 3.1 includes a new palmprint identification add-on, enabling developers and system integrators to design highly accurate multi-biometric systems using any combination of face, iris, fingerprint or palm recognition.
Download MegaMatcher SDK brochure (PDF)
Neurotechnology, a provider of high-precision biometric identification technologies, has released a new upgrade in the company's core product line: VeriLook 4.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) for facial recognition. Expanded capabilities in VeriLook 4.0 provide enhanced facial recognition reliability across a wider range of facial positions.
Download VeriLook SDK brochure (PDF)
SmartGate, an automated border control system using facial recognition, is now available at Auckland International Airport in New Zealand. This launch is the first step of the new long term partnership signed between New Zealand Customs Service and Sagem Sécurité for the implementation of improved border control solutions.
Sandata Technologies, a leading nationwide provider of information technology solutions to home healthcare and social services communities, announced the launch of its second generation speaker verification tool and selection of PerSay as its new technology partner to provide the voice biometric engine for Santrax. Santrax is Sandata's patented time and attendance product.
Ever forge your husband's signature? Wife’s? Parent's? Client's? Do you think the clerk behind the counter at Wal-Mart is skilled in handwriting analysis? I’ve always viewed a signature as a totally ridiculous form of authentication and a total waste of my time. Signing my name has always been burden and a frustrating task.
Read the blog about the problems with traditional signature authorizations.
DocBunker's solution to security is to take personal information off an unsecured computer and then place it into a completely secured environment. This is all done with its sleek 3x5 portable PersonalVault device. It contains a 32gb flash drive for storage and a high grade biometrics reader for personal access. Once a user stores all of his or her information on PersonalVault, the only access to that information is through the PersonalVault's biometrically secured interface.
Roscoe Nsumbuga of Mapswitch on using biometric identification cards used as part of a money transfer service that is enabling millions of Ugandans to access low-cost banking services via their mobile phones. Recorded on November 23, 2009. Watch the Video.
WISekey was named the sole provider of security software and services to the high tech sailing syndicate, Alinghi, as it prepares to defend its trophy against challenger BMW Oracle for the 33rd America's Cup in 2010. The range of services will include securing and hosting the team's website, creating and distributing biometric-protected electronic tokens to secure Alinghi operational and sailing communications on site, and digital signature certificates to eliminate environmental waste for the syndicate's transactions and facilities.
Advances in surveillance systems and continued Trojan attacks also on the horizon
BLUE BELL, Pa., -- Slashed budgets and reduced staffing numbers delayed many security initiatives in 2009, but the vulnerabilities didn't retreat and will only intensify in 2010, Unisys security experts predict. Looking ahead to 2010, Unisys predicts that government and commercial organizations will take a more proactive approach to security, implementing new measures to verify identity and protect confidential information. Financial institutions and defense agencies will lead the charge, with ports and other organizations quickly following.
LONDON—The biometric ID card scheme reaches another stage this month with residents of Manchester being invited to register, despite public fears of security, cost and coercion. Only around 1,500 of a possible 1.7 million people in Manchester have asked for application forms, according to the UK Press Association.
The intended nationwide tagging index began in November last year with the compulsory
photographing and finger-printing of foreign nationals who are students or who are here to
marry residents. Resistance from pilots and airside workers scuppered the attempt to make a trial with staff in London and Manchester airports compulsory. The mandatory nature of the first city-wide trial in Manchester has also been dropped.
A scheme to collect biometrics data from people seeking asylum in Australia will be introduced to crack down on identity fraud in both Sydney and Melbourne. The scheme will see protection visa applicants asked to voluntarily provide a digital facial image and a scan of their fingerprints.
A Chinese woman arrested in Japan for illegal entry had altered her fingerprints through surgery to fool a biometric security system at the airport, media reports said today. Tokyo police confirmed they had arrested Lin Rong, 27, for entering Japan with a fake passport a year ago and then staying on illegally. Local media said Lin was previously deported to China in 2007 for overstaying, but managed to sneak back into Japan last year after surgery to change the skin on her thumbs and index fingers.
CLEMSON – It often takes a pristine look at the iris to pass through some security systems.
Today with the help of the Clemson University Image and Video Analysis Lab, systems may
just need a wrinkle to verify identity. The lab is working with a $2 million grant from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and has joined with other universities to create the Center of Academic Studies in the Identification Sciences (CASIS). The aim of the center is to strengthen biometric identification,
the measurement of physical characteristics to confirm a person’s identity.
The Knesset passed a bill Monday to establish a biometric database that might require all
Israelis to have a chip installed in their ID cards and passports with their fingerprints and facial scans. The bill passed by a large majority in second and third readings following a prolonged debate and after its original version had been modified. The new law postpones the controversial database for two years, during which a partial database will be set up to give the state time to examine ways of safeguarding the information.
KARACHI: We have planned to install biometric at Pakistan Afghanistan border, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik told media after holding meeting with Ulema Monday. Pakistan has a very vast border with Afghanistan and it is very difficult to monitor the border of 2200 km. The terrorists are getting weapons from Afghanistan. We have also informed the
leadership of Afghanistan regarding our reservations. We want to stop the terrorists movement on Pakistan Afghanistan border, he added.
Abuja — The Federal Government and major stakeholders in national security have been
advised to embrace biometric security technology, to checkmate kidnapping in some parts of the country, which has further exacerbated the already precarious security situation across the country. Speaking to reporters in Abuja, weekend, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Tagged
Technologies Limited, an indigenous high-tech firm, Mr. Daniel Omofoman, said all relevant
agencies, private companies and individuals must come to terms with the challenging security demands of the 21st century by not only being security conscious, but adopting equally dynamic and sophisticated technology required to counter modern day crimes.
NEW DELHI: Delhi University teachers stayed away from classes on Monday in response to
a strike called by DU Teachers' Association (DUTA) against "stifling of academic freedom". A few days back, DU had proposed to implement a biometric attendance system for its teacher and DUTA was protesting the move.
Bratislava, Slovakia – Innovatrics, leveraging their market-proven and industry-leading biometric analysis and fingerprinting system, today announces how their solution has enabled the government of Ghana to effectively control entry and exit through the country via a biometric passport. This new biometric passport, available in late 2009, will enable the country to meet the International
Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) deadline for member states to provide their nationals
with such a document to avoid being denied entry into member countries of ICAO. By doing so, Ghana is acknowledging the importance of international identity programs and the role that technology plays in enabling them.
In a recent patent application from technology developer Sony, the specifications for a new
handheld controller for their Playstation 3 video game console shows a number of new potential capabilities, according to a GamePro article. Among the newly designed capabilities is an embedded thumb print scanner that would utilize a player’s biometric data to either authenticate their identity or enhance game input. Other capabilities of the controller include various attachments, embedded speaker and microphone, embedded USB ports, various colored lights to communicate with the player and motion reading capability.
L-1 Identity Solutions Inc. has introduced new automated kiosks for processing driver’s license renewals and replacements. With more than half of all license transactions relating to
replacements and renewals, the self-service kiosks are designed to streamline Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) operations and offer the public a faster and more convenient alternative to waiting in line for agents.
The first two L-1 kiosks will be made available to the public at Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) headquarters in Jackson, Miss. Six additional kiosks will roll out by the end of the month across state public safety offices with additional kiosks expected to be installed in 2010.
The price of the Bulgarians' identity documents (ID cards, passports and driver's licences) will
double as of the beginning of March. The reason is that the new IDs will contain biometric data. Free photo service at the police department will be a kind of compensation for the hike. Up to now, the issue of new IDs stood at 10 levs (1euro=1.95 levs) and the term was 30 days. From March on the price will go up and the service will cost 50 levs.
Cross Match Technologies, a global provider of biometric identity solutions, received FBI recertification for its mobile wireless fingerprint scanner, Verifier Mw.
Recognized products are certified by the FBI as tested and in compliance with the FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) initiatives and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) Image Quality Specifications (IQS). The review of the test data was conducted by the Technology Evaluation Standards Test Unit, a part of Biometric Center of Excellence, Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
The link to the FBI's approved products list can be found at: http://www.fbibiospecs.org/iafis/default.aspx
DigitalPersona, a leader in fingerprint identity and authentication solutions, announced that its customer, Picis, has realized a high level of success in security and privacy protection for its Picis ED PulseCheck Emergency Department Information System (EDIS), which incorporates DigitalPersona's U.are.U Fingerprint Readers and One Touch for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK).
Since biometrically enabling ED PulseCheck, nearly 150 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada have implemented fingerprint authentication for secure access to information while helping to comply with privacy regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
UPEK announced the launch of the EikonTouch USB fingerprint readers, the touch version of their swipe readers. There are two varieties of EikonTouch fingerprint reader: the EikonTouch 700 and the EikonTouch 300. The EikonTouch 700 is designed for government applications requiring FIPS 201 certified image quality as well as for multi-user applications where high biometric performance and easy usability are both critical. The EikonTouch 300 with SteelCoat protective coating is designed for rugged environments and for cost sensitive applications requiring one-touch authentication.
The system El Camino Hospital in California is using as an integral part of its new patient registration and identification system is the Fujitsu PalmSecure palm vein biometric authentication technology. The PalmSecure technology's integration with HT Systems' PatientSecure and McKesson's Star Hospital Information Systems provides El Camino Hospital with an accurate, non-intrusive verification method for effectively registering and identifying patients.
Cross Match Technologies, a global provider of biometric identity management solutions, was honored by the South Florida Business Journal (SFBJ) as a winner of a Technology Award for 2009. The SFBJ Technology Awards identify south Florida's outstanding technology-based companies.
Over 30 senior directors and managers from a broad spectrum of UK call center- orientated businesses took part in a thought-provoking discussion based around a presentation by Steve Morrell, Principal Analyst at ContactBabel. In particular voice biometrics, voice driven note taking and interactive video and voice response were singled out as being worthy of note.
"Most security at the moment is about something you know," Morrell said. "With voice biometrics you hear your own voice, you repeat a certain phrase and it checks whether the phrase is right and if it's your voice. I've seen it and it works."
Vodafone Turkey received "The Best Call Center Technology Solution" award for its new Voice Signature Service, powered by PerSay VocalPassword. PerSay VocalPassword is a biometric speaker verification system that verifies a speaker during an interaction with an IVR or a voice application. The system at Vodafone was successfully integrated with Avaya Voice Portal Platform, enabling secure self service applications such as GSM PUK (Personal Unlocking Key) reset and access to Vodafone Call Centers.
In Afghanistan biometrics such as iris scans, fingerprints, or DNA tests are being proposed as a means to draw up "gated communities" in which outsider 'rebels' can be swiftly identified. In Basra, patrolling US soldiers are being issued with iPODs with a list of all local people.
The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) in Kenya hopes to implement an electronic voter registration system for the 2012 general elections to curb cases of double registration, vote rigging, ballot box exchange and delays.
The Kenyan company VENTIX is offering a "magic pen" which saves a person's data as they put it on paper, which is then transferred to the IIEC headquarters from the polling stations.
Collecting biometric information could put civil liberties and privacy at risk, despite considerable benefits, says the Irish Council for Bioethics (ICB). In its (30 page) report, "Biometrics: Enhancing Security or Invading Privacy?", the ICB explores privacy concerns stemming from the growing use of biometric technologies to counter identity theft.
The Mexican government is planning to gather biometric data to produce ID cards. A tender was organized by the Mexican government and the following companies submitted bids: LATIN ID S.A. de C.V., MAINBIT S.A. de C.V.; SOLTIC S.A. de C.V.; and Smartmatic International Holding, B.V. Smartmatic won the tender to provide such technology, despite having submitted the highest bid.
Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has made an official announcement for national ID number issuance to begin in August 2011 with the first phase of rolling out the numbers to continue into December of that year, according to a Times of India article. The announcement came during Nilekani's visit to the eastern India state of Bihar where he spoke on the basics of the ID number program, which issues a unique number to citizens that points towards biometric markers for identification verification, and elicited opinions on it from the local government.
SALEM, N.H.- Tychi Systems Inc., a leading manufacturer of fingerprint door locks, expanded their patented biometric technology to a line of safes. The BKK line of safes recognize fingerprints for access, eliminating problems of lost keys and combinations or fraudulent entry. Up to 100 users can be enrolled with their fingerprints by the Administrator, who can selectively delete them as well.
In addition to the security of absolute identification by fingerprint, the BKK safes also retain an audit trail of entries by name, time and date. BKK Safes range from 1.2 to 4.5 cu feet, approximately 13” to 30” high, respectively. They are made of industrial strength, laser cut steel plate with thick, inset doors secured by six solid steel bolts.
The smaller sizes are designed for personal jewellery, small firearms, vital documents, and precious relics while the larger sizes can hold critical business documents, trade secrets, drugs or high security keys. Almost all hotels, hospitals, research labs and general business offices are target markets according to the company.
The Tychi BKK Safe website can be found on:
http://www.tychisystems.com/products_BKK.asp
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency
through 19 January 2010 will gather public comments on its proposal to make permanent
and expand a voluntary international trusted traveler program. Launched as a pilot in June
2008 and expanded in August 2009 to cover 20 U.S. airports, Global Entry "would allow CBP to expedite clearance of preapproved, prescreened, low-risk air travelers into the United States." DHS in a notice of proposed rulemaking published 19 November in the Federal Register described the pilot as "successful" and wrote that it expects Global Entry to "eventually operate at most major international airport locations."
Australian banks are taking a closer look at biometric authentication as a means of reducing fraud, thanks to an improved business case, increased consumer concerns about personal data and some impressive breakthroughs in technology. In June, National Australia Bank became the first Australian bank to roll out a biometric-based solution for customer authentication, implementing a voice-based system for telephone banking customers. Tim Cullen, head of direct channels with NAB, said the voice authentication has "far exceeded expectations."
The central government of India is planning to mandate biometric identification for clinical trial volunteers in the country to bring in global standards and to weed out unethical practices in the industry, which is less than a decade old. Clinical trials are essentially research studies to test the safety and efficacy of a new drug by administering it on healthy human volunteers and patients. Unlike other forms of identification, biometric identification - which relies on the unique physical characteristics of a person, like the iris of the eye or a fingerprint - is almost impossible to fudge. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare plans to ask all clinical research organisations to enforce biometric identification for the volunteers they recruit for their clinical trials, according to officials at the ministry. Data from the trials will then have to be made available for scrutiny by regulators, civil society groups and the clinical trial industry, they said.
Amsterdam - More than 3,000 people in the Netherlands have signed a petition demanding that the government overturn a law enabling it to store the fingerprints of all Dutch citizens in a central electronic database. Since September 21, everyone applying for a Dutch passport is obligated to provide four fingerprints for storage in a database that is accessible to municipal authorities, the national intelligence service AIVD and the Justice Department. A group, calling itself Het Nieuwe Rijk (The New Empire) launched the online petition late Tuesday and has also distributed brochures in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, comparing the move to administrative methods used by Nazis during World War II to persecute Jews.
IdentiPHI, a developer of biometric systems, has implemented a biometric access control
solution for a leading pharmacy benefit manager in the U.S. The system they installed, their SAFsolution 5 Enterprise Edition, also includes the Verifi P4000 and P5000 fingerprint readers from Zvetco Biometrics. The system, as it was installed, is capable of password administration, securing computers used by multiple people, better secure the PBM’s network and support 10,000 users. Officials from identiPHI point the recent adoption of such biometric systems in various industries to the increasing need for better security of private data such as this PBM’s sensitive patient files.
Biometrics is witnessing rapid adoption by both public and private sectors worldwide as an accurate, reliable and cost-saving way to offer better and advanced security surveillance.
Over the years, the biometric technology has developed from a new technology used in a narrow band of closed environment applications to a useful, practical, fit-for-purpose tool used across a wide range of industries. According to our market research report “Global Biometric Forecast to 2012”, the global biometric market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of around 18% during 2010-2012.
Our team of experts has carried out an extensive research and analysis to identify the present and future trends of biometrics at regional level. Various geographical regions covered in the analysis are North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and South America. Our research identifies that Asia-Pacific will witness one of the fastest adoption of biometrics globally. The research projects that the Asia-Pacific biometric market will grow at a CAGR of over 27% during forecast period to exceed the value of US$ 2 Billion by 2012 end.
Sony Japan has announced they are bringing a device based on Mofiria technology to the market on December 18th. The USB-based FVA-U1 is a tamper resistant authentication device, similar to a fingerprint scanner, except it scans the veins in your fingers. Compared to the other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication technology achieves higher accuracy on personal identification and forgery resistance because it uses the veins inside the human body. Finger vein patterns differ from person to person, each finger to finger, and it is said that they do not change over the years. Mofiria technology uses a unique method where a CMOS sensor diagonally captures scattered light inside the finger veins. The vein pattern is quickly and accurately extracted from the captured finger vein image without a fixed finger position – ensuring it will be very easy to scan your finger vein pattern. Sony will also be providing a SDK for Mofiria technology, and has stated this is network compatible.
A man frantically runs up to a massive steel door, the papers he’s holding fly every which way. He scans his hand, foot, tongue, both elbows, and…his butt. The steel door slides open…
Concerning biometrics, the line between what is fact and what is fiction on the big screen can be fuzzy to the lay person. The scene described above from the 2009 DreamWorks /Paramount Pictures animated film Monsters vs. Aliens depicts biometrics being used for physical access. This much is fact. Securing the facility is accomplished by requiring verification of this person’s identity. Additionally, in the real world, hand geometry scans are employed in security measures as a means of verification. However, modalities such as the foot, tongue, elbows, and lastly, the butt, are not tools that are used to secure bases, facilities, computer systems, and the like.
By 2011, international students intending to study in Canada will be expected to provide biometric-fingerprints and photos along with their application. This new plan will require digital fingerprints at the application period rather than at the entry stage. Although the new biometrics plan isn't expected to be fully enforced until 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) thinks that it will
certainly help reduce identity theft and increase the safety and security of Canadians.
The government of India is yet to issue a unique identity cards to fishermen, a year after LeT operatives exposed lax security by travelling to Mumbai in a Veraval-based trawler; cards will ensure against port entry of unidentified persons. The state government’s ambitious project to issue biometric cards to fishermen has failed to take off a year after its announcement. In fact, the state is yet to begin the tendering procedure for the issuance of such cards. Soon after 26/11, the state government had taken a decision to issue the cards to around five lakh fishermen in the state to easily identify crew members who set out in fishing trawlers.
A new “smart” wallet called iWallet will be released later this month, according to a DVice article. The wallet comes with a multitude of security features, amongst which include biometric locking. The wallet has an embedded fingerprint scanner that unlocks the wallet enabling it to be opened for access to its contents. In addition to the biometric security, the wallet also has a Bluetooth feature that sends out a squealing alarm should it be more than 15 to 30 feet away from the owner’s mobile phone.
The wallet comes in three varieties where the carbon fiber or kevlar and carbon fiber mix costs $600 and a fiberglass option costs $299.
NEW DELHI: In what could be termed as the first initiative to ensure security for its own staff, the Delhi Police’s 77,000-strong force might well get a world-class, nanotechnology-based, non-cloneable identity card before the commencement of Commonwealth Games 2010. According to a senior official, the new I-cards —that will be known as smart cards —would be issued to all personnel in the next three months. The decision to furnish such digital cards to the policemen was taken keeping in mind the seriousness of the Commonwealth Games and the fact that criminals have been forging the officers’ existing ID cards and misusing them.
An organization known as “GE Global Research”, along with another organization known as SABIC Innovative Plastics just announced recently that it has developed the technique in which the hologram can actually be embedded within the card (credit card, Security card, etc.) itself.
At the present time, the hologram is actually, just literally stamped, onto the card. This Secure ID technology uses volume holography to store information in a much higher security format. Holograms are commonly used today for a variety of ID and card applications to verify their authenticity. However, because they are only stamped on the surface of a card, their authenticity can be compromised. GE-SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Secure ID technology stores holograms within the card material itself, making it virtually impossible for a card to be altered . . . Another unique aspect of GE-SABIC Innovative Plastics’ special holographic material is that they are injection-moldable and can be shaped, which is a first for the industry.”
With its relevance towards Biometrics, this new technique can actually store the Biometric Template in the hologram itself.
Also, interestingly enough, this new technology can store multiple types of holograms, which in turn, can store different as well as multiple types of Biometric Templates onto a single Security card. With this new hologram technology, the amount which is visible to the naked eye can also be greatly controlled. Very interesting in regard to privacy issues.
Thales has been selected by the French Ministries of the Interior and of Immigration for the AGDREF II project. It aims at upgrading the system that manages the records of foreign nationals in France. Thales will deliver its Thales Automated Multi-Modal Identification System application which prevents identity fraud as well as deploy biometric data enrolment software in more than 300 prefectures and sub-prefectures across France. This solution will process data from Thales’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System which contains the information of almost 4 million individuals. TAMMIS@ will help improve the management of foreign nationals, providing identification capabilities for the issuing of secure ID credentials across multiple areas, including Asylum, Residence, Family Reunification, Citizenship Acquisition, Deportation, Refusal of Entry, Travel and Appeals.
More on TAM2IS on:
http://www.thalesgroup.com/Portfolio/Security/D3S_Product_TAMMIS/?pid=1568
DigitalPersona, a developer of biometric solutions, has announced that its customer Picis, developer of health care information systems solutions, has reported success with its Picis ED PulseCheck Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) that uses DigitalPersona’s U.are.U fingerprint readers. The PulseCheck EDIS system is a solution that enables emergency room personnel to quickly access patient records without having to remember a password or ID card for authentication. Since adding DigitalPersona’s U.are.U technology to their solution, Picis has reported implementing their system in more than 150 North American hospitals.
AvidBiometrics.com today announced a new internal report in regards to a skyrocketing demand for biometric time & attendance systems. With the end of a recession that has debilitated many US businesses, employers have had to make tough decisions in order to remain profitable in a down economy. As employers shed jobs leading to an unemployment rate of around 10% in the 3rd quarter of 2009, many people have struggled to find work and many employers have had to reduce costs in order to maintain profitability.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is proposing a multi-billion-dollar biometrics campaign that will collect fingerprints and, eventually, facial recognition and iris information from all foreign travellers at American airports as they exit the country. The discussion comes in the wake of the deployment of non-intrusive radiation scanning equipment along the entire Canada-U.S. land border. Completed October 29 at Trout River, New York on the border with Quebec, the devices are part of a larger ongoing U.S. initiative for layered border security. Capable of detecting nuclear devices, dirty bombs, and other radioactive materials, the radiation portal monitors scan all personal vehicles and cargo entering the U.S. by land from Canada and Mexico. Mail and express packages from Mexico are also scanned in a similar program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday postponed a vote on a controversial law that would set up a biometric database with information about every citizen of the country, following heavy criticism. Netanyahu decided to impede the vote, which reached second and third readings and was expected to be approved by the Knesset on Monday, making this the third time the vote on the legislation has been postponed in the last few weeks.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Law enforcement agencies in three Georgia counties are set to receive new technology to identify and deport illegal immigrants who are considered dangerous criminals. Law enforcement agencies in Gwinnett, Clayton and DeKalb counties will participate in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's Secure Communities program. The program allows arrestee fingerprint information to be checked against FBI criminal history records and biometrics-based immigration records kept by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Indianapolis-based Indiana Blood Center had a problem. Regulations required that blood donors be positively identified each time they donated blood, but the problem was donors don’t always have their government-issued identification card, such as a driver license.
The blood center was looking at three identification options: maintain the current system, issue their own ID card or move to a biometrics-based system, Lux says. Since the current system wasn’t working very well and issuing ID cards would have been too expensive biometrics won out. “It’s easy and always with a donor, unlike an ID card,” Lux says.
The Swiss government on Wednesday approved a move to include biometric data in foreigners' residence permits. The permits are to be fitted with a data chip containing a digitalised photo and two fingerprints.
The information will be stored in the central migration information system for a period of five years and will be available only to the authorities in charge of monitoring residence permits.
PM Netanyahu proposes that Israelis voluntarily submit biometric data for a tamperproof I.D.. This would reduce identity theft. There is some controversy over whether to have other uses for the data. So a compromise plan has been made. The main points of the recommendations are:
· A national biometric data base will not be established in the next 24 months
("examination period").
· During the examination period, a voluntary biometric data base will be established that will include biometric means and data for any resident who so agrees.
· During this period, the urgency of establishing a biometric database - as well as its goals, the information stored therein and the use thereof - will be considered.
· Residents will be included in the voluntary data base only after they have agreed to their data being entered into it. If they refuse - none of their
various legal rights shall be impaired.
Nearly one million passengers have used the latest face scanning technology at Britain's airports, the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson announced today. He confirmed the figure while visiting the state-of-the-art facial recognition gates at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal. More than 950,000 passengers have used the secure self-service gates which scan biometric details and then check them against a range of watch lists before allowing the passengers to enter the country. The facial recognition gates offer legitimate passengers the choice between queuing at traditional, staffed passport controls and using the self-service gates. More than 50,000 passengers have used the gates at Gatwick since their introduction in August 2009.
Canada has joined a growing number of nations now requiring foreigners wanting to study in their countries to provide their electronically obtained fingerprints along with their applications. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has been rolling out a biometric plan for students that will begin in 2011 and expects to have the new system fully in place by 2013. The CIC recently presented information on the biometric changes to a meeting of provinces and national associations of universities, colleges and language schools.
Increasing security concerns ranging from individual identity theft, corporate security, to even national security represents factors that are important to the biometrics market. Some countries have already rolled out biometric systems at airports and other ports of entry to check flow of illegal immigrants into their respective territories. On the technological front, noncontact systems could emerge as the answer to expel inhibitions exhibited by users.
Development of industry-wide standards has been initiated by some industry groups, which would lead to lower costs and enable easier adoption of present and emerging technologies. Government initiatives could emerge as the key to biometrics growth.
The U.S. Travel Association applauded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for expanding and making permanent its Global Entry program. Global Entry is an international registered traveler program created to enhance security and expedite the entry process for Americans and foreign visitors.The U.S. Travel Association advocated for creation of the program and funding for its expansion to the top 20 U.S. airports for international arrivals.
Irex program aims to help mature the biometric authentication method as a tool for PIV cards The National Institute of Standards and Technology is working with industry to encourage development of standards for iris recognition technology, and a recent testing program focused on small images that could fit on identification cards. The Iris Exchange program, or Irex, "is about image-based interoperability," said Patrick Grother, a supervisory computer scientist at NIST and co-author of a report on recently completed algorithm tests. The tests were part of the first phase of Irex and included 19 algorithms from 10 providers, demonstrating strengths and weaknesses when used with various image formats and data compression methods defined by the International Organization for Standardization.
The United States says it will join Canada, Australia and Britain in sharing fingerprints and other data to help authorities discern people's true identities in cracking down on asylum shopping and unlawful immigration. The program would allow governments to ferret out fraudulent refugee claimants by using fingerprinting and other methods to get details about identity, nationality, travel and immigration history. Canada and the U.S. conducted a trial run two years ago in which authorities exchanged fingerprints on 343 refugee claimants.
DETROIT – Law enforcement agencies in southeastern Michigan will benefit from a new initiative developed by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) that modernizes the process used to accurately identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens from the community. The initiative, Secure Communities, is administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Secure Communities enables ICE to determine whether an individual arrested by a participating state or local law enforcement agency is a dangerous criminal alien and take the appropriate action to remove that individual from the community.
In order to curb the increasing trend of absenteeism among college teachers, the Punjab Higher Education Department has decided to install biometric sensors in public sector colleges to have complete and exact details about their arrival and departure. An official of the department, on condition of anonymity, said the department had been receiving complaints on frequent basis that some teachers, in most of the colleges, were habitual absconders and were not ensuring their presence at colleges during the whole working hours. He said such complaints had been received even about the non-teaching staff. Biometric sensors, he said, would eliminate paper-attendance while complete record would be available on a simple click. The device would also help to assess the performance of teaching and non-teaching staff, he added. He said each staffer would have to touch the biometric sensor to check in and out, adding the device would automatically verify their thumb impressions.
Police in Britain are regularly arresting people just to get their DNA samples into the country's massive biometric database, says a new report from a British government watchdog. The report from the Human Genetics Commission also says race is a factor in the arrests: While about eight percent of the British population is now listed on the DNA database, more than three-quarters of young black males, aged 18 to 35, are listed.
The 114 page report can be downloaded on:
http://www.hgc.gov.uk/UploadDocs/DocPub/Document/Nothing%20to%20hide,%20nothing%20to%20fear%20-%20online%20version.pdf
Hong Kong - Face-recognition technology might be used to screen the residents at Hong Kong border checkpoints, Security Secretary Ambrose Lee said Thursday. The wealthy city of seven million already uses fingerprint checks to allow permanent residnts to pass through unmanned checkpoints using ID cards at its airport and land border crossings. Now the city is considering introducing face-recognition technology similar to that being put into use at Beijing’s international airport, Lee said in a written answer to the legislators.
Salaries for the missing Municipal Corporation of Delhi workers add up to nearly $43m a year, City Mayor Kanwar Sain said in a statement. The "gap" was discovered after the authorities introduced a biometric system of recording attendance. Correspondents say it shows some civic officials created a list of "ghost workers" to siphon off state funds. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) employs more than 100,000 cleaners, gardeners, teachers and other workers.
GOLD Coasters could soon be required to have their fingerprints scanned to get into their local pub or club. Options Tavern in Helensvale has already taken the severe security measure, where a photo, driver's licence and fingerprint scan must be provided by a patron before entry. It is the first Gold Coast venue to introduce the tough measures and Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president Lino Girardi said others were looking to follow suit.
The numbers are in and more than 80 percent of illegal immigrants arrested for serious crimes in LA are kicked out of the country. Under the program, authorities automatically check the digital fingerprints of individuals arrested and booked at the local level against the Department of Homeland Security`s "biometrics-based" immigration records in addition to FBI databases, which allows ICE to take actions designed to ensure that dangerous criminal aliens are not released back into communities.
The school board in Pittsburgh, Pa. has issued an order that gives their middle and high school students a couple weeks to sign-up for the school lunch program that sees them using biometric data as a form of payment rather than refillable debit cards or passwords connected to lunch accounts. The program in Pittsburgh utilizes fingerprint biometrics to authenticate the student and the account with which the student is associated.
While the scanners were installed earlier this year to assist with lines during lunchtime as well as to quash problems stemming from students forgetting their cards, the board voted in early October for taking a hard-line with the program and begin requiring it.
See the new school program here.
Notice there is another program too, for parents to watch over the items their children have bought during lunchtime. I think a dangerous slope downhill for privacy. Today at a school in Australia tomorrow @ McDonald’s.
A bill approved by Israel`s government on Sunday proposes that all residents must be issued biometric identity cards and passports carrying two fingerprints and scanned facial features. The Interior Ministry also intends to establish a biometric database of all Israeli residents, a plan that has drawn criticism from lawyers and civil rights campaigners.
The biometric database poses risks of privacy, data security, information leakage and linkage with other databases, according to Dan Hay from the Israeli Bar Association.
"Every database can be breached. Insiders can leak sensitive information, so other people can use fingerprints in order to forge documents or imprint fingerprints in crime scenes to incriminate others," Hay said.
The database might be linked to other databases so that authorities or unauthorized people can receive a detailed profile of a resident, Hay said. Such a profile can include the resident's whereabouts, communication data, financial status, skin color, gender and ethnic origin, according to Hay.
More articles from the Israeli Bar Association on:
http://www.israelbar.org.il/english_index.asp
Cross Match Technologies, Inc., a global provider of biometric identity solutions, unveiled the latest addition to its facial recognition product suite. Lookout Verify was shown at the CARTES & IDentification exhibition in Paris, France.
SCM Microsystems and BioID AG announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to create biometric enabled access solutions, beginning with the joint development of biometric authentication solutions for IT security. SCM`s expertise in smart card reader technology and other authentication hardware, combined with BioID`s face, iris and voice recognition technology will enable strong, reliable, and convenient user authentication for enterprise, government and consumer applications.
Voice Commerce, the UK-based biometric payment verification group established by former RBS WorldPay founder Nick Ogden, has received authorization from the Financial Services Authority to establish as a Payment Institution under the European Payment Services Directive (PSD).
AvidBiometrics.com offers new website with a large selection biometric authentication and biometric security products designed for businesses and government agencies.
See the website here
A federal-local law enforcement partnership using biometrics identified more than 111,000 criminal aliens in local custody in its first year, officials said.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a release. "We will continue to expand these partnerships to provide a force multiplier for ICE's immigration enforcement efforts across the country."
Few Biometric systems include LED thumb-pad identification devices, complex retinal laser scanning, or even computerized iris recognition. Added to line-up is a quick X-ray of your knees!
Internal body parts are obviously invisible to the unaided eye but Shamir and colleagues have now demonstrated that knee X-rays can be used for identification purposes. The approach rapidly analyses the X-ray images using the wnd-charm algorithm, which has previously been used to diagnose clinical conditions of the knee joints.
The advantage of using a biometric identification process based on this kind of imaging is that it would be so much more difficult for a fraudster to spoof the knees or other internal body part in the way that they might with artificial fingerprints or contact lenses.
Human Recognition Systems (HRS), a leading biometric and identity management consultancy, has recently been awarded the contract for developing the business case for procurement and implementation of Biometric Data Processing System for the Ministry of the Interior of Latvia in partnership with Latvian IT specialist Datorzinibu Centrs.
A group of Dutch privacy advocates are trying to get attention in the media to warn the Dutch people for the intention of the Dutch government to implement a central fingerprint database to secure the new Dutch Biometric Passport.
The campaign does not take a well chosen civilised point of view, but instead gets the wrong attention in this campaign to suggest that the Dutch government endorses the use of tattooing your ID number on your left arm. People in the street can’t make the ‘ switch’ and focus on the Holocaust-like picture and reject the message therefore.
A classical example of aiming too high and missing the target. They have attention now, but I think the wrong attention. The debate is starting, but in my opinion with a false start.
Here you have the logo of this action group. The Dutch lion stepping on his own kin.
It’s possible the link doesn’t work anymore because this group already is ordered by the ministry of Interior to stop this campaign.
TAMPA, Fla.- Sypris Electronics, LLC, a subsidiary of Sypris Solutions, Inc., announced today that it has successfully integrated a next generation biometric sensor onto its new high assurance information security product designed for the U.S. Government. A demonstration of this new technology was recently showcased to key internal and external stakeholders.
The biometric technology enables an additional level of security through robust user identity authentication, further hardening an already top-rated government security product. The Company’s development of advanced identity authentication methods is an essential part of its cyber security innovations.
SelectaDNA protects Rotterdam McDonalds restaurant from burglary
Following a successful campaign by Dutch police to reduce retail crime in the Rotterdam area, the franchise owner of McDonald’s on Coolsingel, the main shopping street in the central area of the city, took the decision to protect the busy premises against robbery.
Entry and exit points at the main McDonald’s restaurant in Rotterdam city centre are being protected from burglary by the installation of the new SelectaDNA intruder spray that uses forensic DNA to link offenders directly to the crime scene.
More on SelectaDNA on:
http://www.selectadna.co.uk/
The SelectaDNA Intruder Spray is proving to be one of the most effective ways to deter commercial burglaries and smash-and-grab raids. It can be fitted at multiple entry points of premises such as pubs, restaurants, corner shops, supermarket chains, jewellers, warehouses and petrol stations, immediately target hardening any building.
Once activated, the DNA spray emits a burst of hi-tech forensic solution onto the offenders. The solution contains a UV tracer and a unique DNA code, linking them irrefutably to the scene of the crime.
As West Virginia University’s biometrics and forensic science program’s relationship grows with the FBI, it’s drawing more attention nationwide. Biometrics is the development of statistical and mathematical methods applicable to data analysis programs in the biological sciences. The partnership with the FBI has drawn nearly $1 million in grants for further development of evidence collection technologies and interactive training tools for personnel, according to a press release. "The program benefits the federal agencies in recruiting students who have a biometrical base and knowledge," said Arun Ross, associate professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
The New API Interface to The VoiceTransact (TM) Trust Centre Network is an Industry First.
London - Voice Commerce, the innovative financial services group, today announced the launch of its VoiceTransact(TM) Application Programming Interface (API) that allows organizations to quickly and easily access the company's VoiceTransact(TM) Trust Centres. This allows organizations, such as banks, telecommunications operators and businesses that require identity and verification, with optional payment processing, to evaluate and verify the benefits to their own customers of using voice-signature authentication. The API enables the Voice Transact Services to be integrated into any business process and during a free two week trial, customers can evaluate the time and cost savings that the use of voice-signature based identity authentication through VoiceTransact(TM) can bring.
Program would screen foreigners departing by plane
WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security is finalizing a proposal to collect fingerprints or eye scans from all foreign travelers at US airports as they leave the country, officials said, a costly screening program that airlines have opposed. The plan, which would take effect within two years, would collect fingerprints at airport security checkpoints, departure gates, or terminal kiosks, allowing the government to track when roughly 35 million foreign visitors a year leave the country and who might be overstaying their visas, Homeland Security officials said. The department plans to send the proposal to the White House as soon as next month for review and inclusion in President Obama’s next budget.
Australia Post has revealed plans to introduce new technology to allow Post Office staff to take fingerprints, biometric scans and digital signatures from customers applying for services such as bank accounts and passports. The new Identification Services Program Project is expected to be adopted at all 4,443 retail Post outlets, but is currently being tested at 25 Australia Post-owned outlets across NSW and Western Australia.
Research and development is increasingly going global, according to a new report by Duke's Offshoring Research Network (ORN). More than half of U.S. companies now have corporatewide initiatives to outsource innovation activities, up from 22% in 2005, according to the ORN, which has been tracking the growth of outsourcing since 2004. And of those companies already offshoring development, 60% intend to do so more aggressively.
BLUE BELL, Pa., -- With concerns growing over the incidence of bank card fraud and identity theft, a majority of people globally would accept biometric authentication to verify their identities, according to recent research from Unisys Corporation. Analyzing recent findings from the nine countries covered in the bi-annual Unisys Security Index, Unisys found that consumers remain most concerned about bank card fraud and identity theft -- despite a general decrease in overall concerns about security threats. These two issues have ranked as the top overall consumer concerns globally since Unisys began compiling the Unisys Security Index worldwide in 2007.
For more information, visit: www.unisyssecurityindex.com.
Immigration officials announced Thursday that a fingerprint-based system that screens for suspected illegal immigrants in local jails led to the identification of more than 111,000 people classified as “criminal aliens” in its first year. The Secure Communities program, launched in October 2008 at the Harris County Jail, uses biometric technology to check the immigration history of all suspects booked into local lockups. The system is in place in 95 jurisdictions, including Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Jefferson and Montgomery counties.
The Houston Police Department plans to have the system in city jails by the end of the year, city officials said.
A number of U.S. states now use facial recognition technology when issuing drivers licenses. Similar methods are also used to grant access to buildings and to verify the identities of international travellers. Historically, obtaining accurate results with this type of technology has been a time intensive activity. Now, a researcher from the University of Miami College of Engineering and his collaborators have developed ways to make the technology more efficient while improving accuracy.
International Biometric Group's Biometrics Market and Industry Report 2009-2014 delivers actionable data and exclusive analysis to investors, systems integrators, technology developers, and government organizations. The Report includes detailed profiles of over 15 leading publicly-traded and privately-held biometric vendors. The Report also analyzes the impact of large-scale programs such as US-VISIT, Real ID, and the proposed British ID Card and National Register.
Key Report findings include the following:
- Global biometric revenues are projected to grow from $3.42b in 2009 to $9.37b in 2014, driven in part by government identity management and border management programs
- Fingerprint is expected to gain 45.9% of the non-AFIS biometrics market in 2009, followed by face recognition at 18.5% and iris recognition at 8.3%
- Annual iris recognition revenues are projected to approach $500m by 2012
- Asia and North America are expected to be the largest global markets for biometric products and services
- Vein recognition is expected to play a larger role in access control applications, eventually comprising over 10% of this market.
- The Report includes detailed profiles of over 15 leading publicly-traded and privately-held biometric vendors.
The report can be purchased on:
http://www.biometricgroup.com/reports/public/market_report.php
Face-recognition technology might be used to screen residents at Hong Kong border checkpoints, Security Secretary Ambrose Lee said Thursday. The wealthy city of 7 million already uses fingerprint checks to allow permanent residents to pass through unmanned checkpoints using ID cards at its airport and land border crossings.
Now the city is considering introducing face-recognition technology similar to that being put into use at Beijing's international airport, Lee said in a written answer to legislators.
The Cabinet approved a revision bill that would make it mandatory for foreigners entering Korea to be fingerprinted and photographed from 2012. Under the measure, all foreigners over the age of 17, excluding diplomats and those travelling on official duty, must have their fingerprints scanned and be photographed upon entry.
Voice biometrics is a technology that verifies the identity of a caller by matching the resonance and pitch of his or her voice (the 'voiceprint') to a database of pre-recorded phrases. TradeHarbor, a provider of voice authentication services, recently partnered with Convergys and Voxeo, both providers of interactive voice response (IVR) solutions and services. The deals are similar: TradeHarbor will supply its VSS system to both Convergys and Voxeo.
Cogent Systems today announced that it is the first biometrics vendor to have its handheld mobile identification devices certified as compliant with the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) Initiatives and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) Image Quality Specifications (IQS). The certification encompasses Cogent’s Fusion, Mobile Ident II, and the recently released Mobile Ident III. Testing for compliance with the FBI’s biometric specifications was conducted by the Technology Evaluation Standards Test Unit, part of the Biometric Center of Excellence, Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
More on the Ident II on:
http://www.cogentsystems.com/MobileIdentII.asp
More on the Ident III on:
http://www.cogentsystems.com/MobileIdentIII.asp
Speed Identity has received an order to supply biometric capture equipment for e-passports to the Lithuanian passport authority. The order consists of the Speed Capture Station as well as the mobile unit Speed Capture Mobile. The solution has been used by Swedish Police Board and Swedish Migration Board for several years, both for the purpose of capturing biometric data such as facial pictures, finger prints and digital signatures.
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Voice/Speech Recognition Systems - Global Outlook" report to their offering. The global outlook series on Voice/Speech Recognition Systems provides a collection of market briefs, concise summaries and statistical anecdotes of research findings.
For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8d2bf5/voicespeech_recog
Look at the VideoBiometrics 2009 Conference in London. made on the
The Arkansas Department of Correction has instituted new security measures designed to identify prison staff and eliminate the possibility that inmates can leave the prison grounds dressed as guards as they did in May. Prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler said biometrics scanners have been placed at the department's Cummins Unit, where two inmates, walked out of a prison door after putting on guard uniforms on May 29.
Pakistan is way ahead of the USA and India in the usage of biometric and facial recognition systems, as over 85 per cent of its adult population uses them, stated National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik. He was addressing the eighth Annual Smart Cards Government Conference 2009 in Washington, DC. Malik said "Pakistan takes pride in establishing the world largest biometric citizen database, thus enabling the elected government to use identity infrastructure to lend financial support to its citizens."
Privaris, a leader in personal, wireless identity verification solutions, announced the issuance of four significant industry patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office, bringing its total patent portfolio to twelve. The patents include:
- US Patent # 7,481,364 - "Biometric Identification Device with Smartcard Capabilities"
- US Patent # 7,525,537 - "Man-Machine Interface for Controlling Access to Electronic Devices"
- US Patent # 7,587,611 - "In-Circuit Security System and Methods for Controlling Access to and Use of Sensitive Data"
- US Patent # 7,590,861 - "Methods for Secure Enrollment and Backup of Personal Identity Credentials Into Electronic Devices"
Alasdair Darroch, director for biometrics developer Biostore, spoke at the Biometrics 2009 Conference in London revealing that the education sector may be leading the charge on utilization of biometrics with approximately 10% of schools utilizing the technology in some way. Among the areas in schools where biometrics are being utilized most commonly are libraries as a means of checkout, cafeterias for school lunch payment programs, access control and printer or copier access.
WASHINGTON and RESTON, Va., Nov. 2, 2009 -- The National Data Exchange (N-DEx) criminal justice information sharing system has been recognized with a Government Computer News (GCN) 2009 Agency Information technology Award. N-DEx was jointly developed by the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division and Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN). It is one of 10 government agency projects to be distinguished as outstanding IT initiatives for 2009.
One of the most important innovations in the FBI's post-9/11 counterterrorism efforts consists of a portable workstation and a miniature satellite dish. Called the Quick Capture Platform (QCP), it electronically scans fingerprints and beams them to a database here. "What it provides is the capability from anywhere for an agent to send prints to the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) and the Defense Dept.'s Automatic Biometric Identification System (ABIS)," says Roy Bowlen of the FBI, who helped develop the system.
…And that is precisely the future of biometrics: linking different systems, particularly international databases. "It will be the international connection," Bush says. "These systems will be connected by biometrics in the not-too-distant future."
If our last two prime ministers are to be believed, and our last five home secretaries, the solution to all the problems of crime detection, counter-terrorism and the delivery of efficient public services is … biometrics. They're certainly labelling our money into biometrics. But no one ever asks, do biometrics work? Speaking at the Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II (the man behind the FBI's automated fingerprint identification system)
outlined the plans for the future of biometrics at the FBI.
Under the next generation identification initiative, an irisprint database is likely to be added to the FBI's existing fingerprint and DNA databases. Fingerprints are likely to be supplemented with friction prints of other ridges, probably palmprints and maybe footprints. Voiceprints are being evaluated. Anything that can feasibly increase public safety. What will not be added is facial recognition.
More on FBI Next Gen. identification:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ngi.htm
Islamabad: With registration of over 85% of the country’s adult population using both biometric and facial recognition systems, Pakistan is way ahead of USA and India who are in a very premature stage of unique identity systems; this was stated by Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman, and National Database & Registration Authority. In his keynote address at the 8th Annual Smart Cards Government Conference 2009, at Washington DC, USA, Tariq Malik said "Pakistan takes pride in establishing the world largest biometric citizen database, thus enabling elected government to use identity infrastructure to roll out financial support and other programs for benefit of its citizens".
Now to a CBS4 I-Team investigation into the theft of billions of your tax dollars. Medicare fraud costs each of us nearly $200 for every man, woman and child in the United States in stolen tax dollars every year. And a CBS4 I-Team investigation uncovered how South Florida is at the center of Medicare fraud. Now, a Broward County entrepreneur says he may have a solution in a high-tech biometrics device that would guarantee Medicare doesn't pay for phantom patients. CBS4 I-Team investigator Stephen Stock looked into the technology that might save taxpayers millions.
The Oct. 12 editorial “Wrong Paths to Immigration Reform” and an Oct. 16 letter may have left readers with misconceptions about the Secure Communities initiative. The initiative’s goal is to identify foreign nationals among all people who have been arrested and booked for a crime, and to remove the most dangerous among them. It doesn’t give any authority to local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws. Also, it doesn’t racially profile. A person must be booked for a crime before his or her fingerprints are submitted to the Department of Homeland Security for an immigration status check. And, at the time of booking, everyone’s fingerprints are checked, not just those who the local police may believe are foreign nationals. Also, identification relies on biometrics— fingerprints — to accurately identify the person arrested.
New report advises proportionality and transparency in applying biometric technology
The Irish Council for Bioethics (ICB) has launched its report entitled "Biometrics: Enhancing Security or Invading Privacy?" The report advises that these technologies, though powerful, must be used appropriately to avoid resentment and paranoia among users.
Biometric technologies, says the report, such as fingerprint, voice, face and iris recognition, are increasingly becoming part of daily life. Due to the marked rise in security threats and the escalation of identity theft, people are being required to identify themselves in order to travel, complete financial transactions or to have their time and attendance at work or school monitored.
This 192 page report can be downloaded on:
http://www.bioethics.ie/
Or on this website here.
The eyes may be the mirror to the soul, but the iris reveals a person's true identity—its intricate structure constitutes a powerful biometric. A new report by computer scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) demonstrates that iris recognition algorithms can maintain their accuracy and interoperability with compact images, affirming their potential for large-scale identity management applications such as the federal Personal Identity Verification program, cyber security and counterterrorism. After fingerprints, iris recognition has emerged in recent years as the second most widely supported biometric characteristic. This marketplace rests, in large part, on the ability of recognition algorithms to process standard images from the many cameras now available. This requires images to be captured in a standard format and prepared so that they are compact enough for a smart card and for transmission across global networks. The images also have to be identifiable by computer algorithms and interoperable with any iris-matcher product regardless of the manufacturer.
The IREX report can be downloaded on:
http://iris.nist.gov/irex/
The IREX II preliminary report (2nd draft) can be downloaded on:
http://iris.nist.gov/irexII/
Or on this website here
Keeping track of employee attendance is no small task, but far too often it is conducted using somewhat primitive manual procedures. Reducing cheating on hours and handling payrolls more efficiently may be enough to justify the use of T&A software and services. However, it can play a role in managing many other workforce issues, including worker safety, scheduling and predictive analysis. Improvements in the accuracy of time and attendance programs will soon make biometric technology even more attractive to use, according to Wettemann. "We are moving from the paper punch card, to using an electronic swipe card like a credit card, to biometric employee identity programs," she said. "The fingerprint technology was a start, but now there is the capability for hand geometry identity that will impact the buddy punch phenomenon."
More Washington area police using mobile print reader, but critics worry about privacy
Prince George's County police found two men shot in the back of the head and dumped in a Suitland cemetery. Detectives identified one man by the driver's license in his pocket, but the second had no ID. Police needed to know his name and fast. The first 24 hours are the most important in a homicide case. Investigators called Alexandria police, who had a gadget straight out of a "CSI" spinoff: a mobile fingerprint reader. Officers got to the cemetery with the device, scanned the dead man's fingers and identified him within three minutes. Detectives made an arrest days later. Without the device, police would have waited at least 36 hours for an autopsy, officials said.
BIO-key International, a provider of finger-based biometric identification software, showcased donor and patient identity solutions at the AABB TXPO conference. Peter Lux, manager of Blood Collection Associates at the Indiana Blood Center, presented at the conference in the Information Systems & Education track on how the Indiana Blood Center automated its donor identification process using BIO-key fingerprint biometrics.
Identity theft has made inexpensive biometrics look attractive for authenticating employees, customers, citizens, students and any other people we want to recognize. But do the benefits of biometrics outweigh the risks?
What will stop theives from electronically sending your stolen fingerprints to your bank to confirm that you really do want to clean out your bank account through an ATM in Islamabad? What will you do when your digitized fingerprints wind up on a government No Fly list? If you think it takes forever to board a plane now, wait until every law enforcement agency in the free world has your fingerprints on file as a suspected thief or, worse, a terrorist.
The reality is that biometrics are a feel-good measure designed to give people the false impression that they are more secure than they were before, when in fact they are more at risk. Identity theft victims report that it can take three, five or more years to clean up the financial mess left after a stolen Social Security number. How long will it take to clean up a stolen fingerprint?
This blogger says that the "live trial" at Manchester Airport saw so many people queried that the queues became impossible. As a result, the software was "recalibrated". Rob Jenkins of Glasgow University, an expert on facial recognition, discovered that the recalibrated scanner could not distinguish between Gordon Brown and Mel Gibson or between Osama Bin Laden and Winona Ryder.
A new book about all the lies we're told (Complete and Utter Zebu by Simon Rose and Steve Caplin) has an excellent chapter called "Biometrics: the billion pound confidence trick".
This book can be bought on:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Utter-Zebu-Shocking-Every/dp/1906964335
An interview with Rob Jenkins on Face recognition issues can be found on:
http://inhardfocus.com/2009/06/sitting-down-with-rob-jenkins.html
The ultraportable U550 features a substantially large display of 15.6 inches, with an ultra-low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor inside, combined with 8 Gbytes of DDR3 RAM and options up to 500 Gbytes of storage. Another "Rambo" (DVD-RAM+CD-RW drive) is included. The ultraportable U550 includes a facial-recognition sensor (via the 1.3-Mpixel webcam) and a fingerprint scanner to speed logons through biometrics.
The International VoiceCash Group specializes in international mobile money transfer. The company launched a prepaid MasterCard twin-card, the blauworld Prepaid MasterCard, issued by Newcastle Building Society, for the German market. The VoiceCash Prepaid MasterCard cards can be managed online, via mobile phone SMS commands, and even with a certified voice biometrics program (VoiceTrust).
A2iA, a leading developer of handwritten and machine printed text recognition, information extraction and intelligent classification of paper documents, announced OSEO, the French Agency for Innovation dedicated to providing support to innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises, has awarded the company with a new repayable grant. This grant will support the development and sales efforts of a new internal platform dedicated to processing archived documents. It will also help with the development of a new A2iA recognition engine that can read and extract old-fashioned handwritten information and integrate large lexicons, while maintaining a fast processing speed.
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social & Family Affairs recently published its first report on social welfare fraud, no doubt a pressing issue in light of the State's financial predicament and the increasing numbers requiring social welfare. The Committee believes that biometric information should be incorporated into the public services card in order to eliminate the possibility of fraud and to facilitate this card becoming a national identity card.
This 94 page report can be downloaded on:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Committees30thDail/J-SocialFamilyAffairs/Reports_2009/20091021.doc
Or one this website here.
This blogger says that no two people have exactly the same scent and that dogs can smell the difference, and that we need to explore scent biometrics.
Did you know that no two people have exactly the same scent and the dogs can smell the difference? It's true. In fact, a dog can smell has left the fingerprint stamp, a glass and then the difference between people that they left and one can not do this and you have other people to touch the glass, and she knows the difference between those who touched the glass and those who did not. Amazing.
MaxID, a manufacturer of biometric handheld equipment, and CoreStreet, a provider of credential validation solutions, announced the sale of ten iDLMaxG TWIC handheld biometric reader devices to the United States Coast Guard. The iDLMaxG is a multi-modal, ruggedized mobile computer that includes a QWERTY keyboard, bar code, contact and contactless card readers, optical fingerprint scanner and optional magnetic swipe and MRZ readers with a digital camera, GPS, and communications capabilities.
Besides identity theft statistics on American's fear of identity theft, they also polled on the steps they would take to prevent it. Biometrics is the clear winner. According to the Gallup Survey, 58% percent of Americans said they would use biometrics to verify their identities, as long as the biometric data was secured, while 38% said they would not use biometrics.
With large-scale biometrics deployment in the EU still in its infancy and with stakeholders racing to position themselves in view of the lucrative market that is forecasted, a study to identify challenges and threats that need to be dealt with has been launched. This is the result: a report on Biometrics large-scale Deployment in Europe. The report tackles three main issues namely, the status, security / privacy and testing / certification processes. A survey was launched so as to help reveal the actual status of Biometrics large-scale Deployment initiatives in EU.
The main outcome of the survey was that an open dissemination of implementation results policy is needed mainly on deployment plans, strategies, barriers and best practices. The security/ privacy challenges study identified a number of issues, the most important of which were related to proportionality and compliance to the existing regulatory framework while at the same time it revealed an important number of related actions aiming at ensuring both data security and privacy.
Download this 150 page report on:
http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/pub.cfm?id=1899
Or from this website on: Large scale Biometrics Deployment in Europe.
On the London Biometrics 2009, a very interesting presentation was given by Mary Collins of the International Biometric Group on using high tech Millimeter wave, Short wave Infrared imaging and thermal sensors for identification purposes.
Also the use of High resolution Imagers (16MP) and Light detection and Ranging (LIDAR) was presented in London.
Interesting stuff that is already employed in the fast lanes on airports and soon to be employed on larger scale in the (very) near future in the streets of big cities.
Of course there are Privacy concerns and big brother is surely already watching you. So we need a good balanced discussion on these subjects. Knowing what is technically possible is not the same as deploying everything technically possible without consent and proper regulation and lawful implementations.
More on the International Biometric Group on: http://www.biometricgroup.com/
Paris, October 30, 2009
Sagem Sécurité (Safran group) made headlines at Biometrics 2009, the leading European trade show and exhibition dedicated to biometrics, by unveiling its new “Finger on the Fly” technology that reads fingerprints on a moving hand - “on the fly”.
For the first time, a contactless biometric recognition technology can capture and process the fingerprints from four fingers on a hand in movement, in just a few seconds. Well suited to current requirements, this technology enhances security and speeds up flows in crowded areas, such as airports. It can also be used as the basis for a more user-friendly identification system, involving fewer restrictions for users.
Biometric technologies are enabling the DoD to identify and detain suspected enemies and terrorists, improving citizen security both home and away. Dr. Myra Gray, director of the Biometrics Task Force, explains how and why these biometric solutions are being deployed. The Biometrics Task Force (BTF), located in Arlington, Virginia, USA, is a US Department of Defense (DoD) organisation dedicated to developing new ways to protect the country using biometric applications. It leads DoD activities to programme, integrate, and synchronise biometric technologies and capabilities, and to operate and maintain the DoD’s authoritative database.
As health care providers move to electronic records, correct patient identification becomes a priority. President Barack Obama wants every citizen to have electronic medical records. One of the challenges in health care though is making sure the correct record is linked to the right patient and that the information is secure. Smart card and biometric vendors are vying for position in the rapidly emerging patient identification market. One vendor who is tailoring biometrics to the health care market is Tampa, Fla.-based HT Systems. The company has taken Fujitsu’s palm vein biometrics and customized it for health care and patient ID.
Privaris, a developer of biometric products and other identity verification solutions, has announced that they have been awarded four new patents for devices and methods from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. With the addition of these four, Privaris now holds a total of twelve patents. Of the two patents for devices, the first deals with a smart card reader designed for attaching to and working with a portable biometric device and the second is a patent covering man-machine interfaces such as touch screens capable of also capturing fingerprint images for verification. The two method patents deal with controlling and protecting access to sensitive biometric data and securing enrollment and back-up of data.
According to Winston Churchill, there is no worse mistake in leadership than to hold out false hopes. One area where false hopes have long abounded is information security, and it's happening again. This time the false hope we're extending is that we can deploy one simple piece of technology that will significantly reduce the problem of identity theft. Of course, identity theft is a huge and growing problem. Each year, the identifying information of millions of Americans is stolen from corporate databases. Companies face billions of dollars in theft, millions of dollars in fines and, perhaps most important, the loss of customer trust.
The House overwhelmingly approved a Coast Guard reauthorization bill Friday, including language giving crew members of U.S. ships the ability to defend themselves from pirate attacks. The bill, approved 385-11, authorizes $10 billion for the Coast Guard in fiscal 2010, about $200 million more than the Obama administration requested. The bill also includes several technology-related provisions. It requires, for example, that the Coast Guard study the feasibility of using biometric facial and iris scans to rapidly identify individuals for security purposes.
After being banned almost a year ago as bug-infested cyber threats, thumb drives may soon be allowed to plug back into U.S. Defence Department computers and networks. But not all thumb drives. And not for all computer users, according to Pentagon officials and industry sources. Thumb drives were banned in November 2008 after thousands of military computers and networks became infected by worms, viruses and other malicious software. Many of the infections were traced to thumb drives, which acquired malicious software from computers or the Internet and passed them on.… The drives should contain built-in encryption chips that convert everything on them to code that can be unencrypted only by a user with the correct password or the right fingerprint - or both…
Builders’ battered thumbs have long been a problem in ensuring security on construction sites. But now a spin-out firm at the University of Warwick is pioneering new ways to control who goes on to building sites using fingerprinting technology which can identify partial, distorted or otherwise warped fingerprints in seconds. And the technology being commercialized by Warwick Warp is receiving international recognition after it sailed through two of the world’s toughest technical fingerprint tests last week.
Technology developed by the University of Warwick that can identify partial, distorted,
scratched, smudged, or otherwise warped fingerprints in just a few seconds has just scored top marks in the world’s two toughest technical fingerprint tests. The technology is also being rapidly taken up by the UK building trade who are delighted to have fingerprint technology which can cope with the often worn and ravaged builders’ thumbprints.
Many other fingerprint techniques have tried to identify a few key features on a finger print and laboriously match them against a database of templates. The University of Warwick researchers consider the entire detailed pattern of each print and transform the topological pattern into a standard co-ordinate system. This allows the researchers to "unwarp" any finger print that has been distorted by smudging, uneven pressure, or other distortion and create a clear digital representation of the fingerprint that can then be mapped on to an "image space" of all other finger prints held on a database. Instead of laboriously comparing a print against each entry in a database any new print scanned by the system is unwarped and over laid onto a virtual "image space" that includes all the fingerprints available to the database. It does not matter whether it’s a thousand or a million fingerprints in the database the result comes back in seconds.
Employers should start preparing for new immigration enforcement policies under the Obama administration as pressure on employers to prevent unlawful hiring increases. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is working hard to convince Congress to make E-Verify, the voluntary Internet-based employment verification system, mandatory for all employers in the United States. However, the government continues to look for ways to improve the accuracy and efficiency of E-Verify. In fact, Secretary Napolitano has stated that she aims to continue boosting the use of technology to ensure the law is applied correctly.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the leading democrat in Congress pushing for a strong employment verification program, has stated that he favours a high-tech employment verification system that employs biometric identifiers such as fingerprints, eye scans and more.
The Security General Directorate has cancelled a contract for designing and implementing biometric passports because the contractor failed to meet certain bid requirements. In a breach of contractual specifications, the devices purchased within the scope of the project fail to insert digital photos on passports. The contract for the project was signed in July 2007 and was scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. A new tender will be held immediately to make sure that biometric passports are delivered to passport-holders because Turkey has made commitments to various international bodies on this issue. Turkish authorities had previously assured EU officials that the use of biometric passports would be launched in 2010.
Sydney-based Elias Messaike says ear biometrics, which involves analysing photographs of ears, is an ideal way to identify people. "It's practical, it's fast, it's cost effective and it's an alternative method so you don't have to give up cracking a case or identifying a victim," he told ABC News Online. Mr Messaike, who has been specialising in ears for nearly five years, says no two ears are the same - not even your left and right.
Phillipines - MORE than half of the estimated 45 million registered voters nationwide have yet to provide their biometrics to the poll body’s data-capturing machines, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez said on Wednesday.
However, Jimenez said these people need not panic since they can still vote in May 2010, national elections even without their biometrics having been taken, as long as their names are included in the voters’ list. The voter’s identification cards are also not a requirement on Election Day for voters on the list. Names remain on the Comelec’s official list as long as the persons concerned had voted in the past two elections.
The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) has announced that a new scheme has been developed to make the biometric registration of immigrants easier on both the government and the immigrants. Part of this scheme involves the creation of a mobile biometrics team that will be able to enroll immigrants without having to be stationed in an office somewhere.
Alasdair Darroch, director for biometrics developer Biostore, spoke at the Biometrics 2009 Conference in London revealing that the education sector may be leading the charge on utilization of biometrics with approximately 10% of schools utilizing the technology in some way, according to an Info Security article. Among the areas in schools where biometrics are being utilized most commonly are, cafeterias for school lunch payment programs, access control and printer or copier access. Darroch adds that despite the widespread adoption of biometrics, no standards for use in schools have been set by authorities meaning it is still the responsibility of the vendors and developers to create secure solutions that do not leave students open to theft or misuse of their personal data.
ABC reports that earlier this year, as part of his administration's efforts to reform the U.S.
healthcare system, President Obama pledged to ensure that all medical records in the United States would be electronic within five years. The plan is sure to have far-reaching effects on the healthcare industry as a whole, and it also is likely to create opportunities for technology providers in the space. Fujitsu's latest patient self-service offering, the Med-Serv 50/60 kiosk, incorporates state-of-the art biometric technology, another trend that is picking up speed in the kiosk industry. The kiosk's PalmSecure palm-vein sensor, which also can be implemented in other hardware configurations, allows a patient to sign in at the healthcare provider's office by simply holding her hand close to the kiosk's touchscreen, which then captures an image of the palm's vein pattern and encrypts it.
MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia (GOL) will formally launch the new national biometric passports at the Ministry of foreign Affairs Monday, November 2, 2009 on Capitol Hill.
The new passports will meet the global requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Biometric Machine Readable Passports to be in effect by April 2010.
NXP today announced that its SmartMX security chip has been chosen by the Chinese government to power the country’s first ePassport scheme. Utilizing the latest developments in cryptography and security to protect the chip at both hardware and software level, NXP’s portfolio of SmartMX products enables data to be securely stored on the passport, creating an even stronger link between the document and its owner. The Chinese government will start issuance of ePassports in 2010, and is planning to replace all paper-based passports. At present over 30 million passports are in circulation within China, therefore substantial roll-out volumes of ePassports are expected in the coming years.
China has an estimated 1.3 billion inhabitants.
The link above is pointing to the official Dutch site www.paspoortinformatie.nl of the Dutch ministry of Interior.
In the Q&A part about storage of the biometric data a strange answer is given about the central storage of the data.
I translated this part:
Q: Are my fingerprints stored in a central database?
A: No. Your fingerprints are now stored in the decentralized administration of the agency where you requested your travel document. A central administration for travel documents is underway. This was recently amended in the new Passport Act. It will take time before the central administration for travel documents will be used.
Why is the answer no, when the obvious target is yes? It seems to me the reality of central databases, searchable for much more than travel document related information, must be hidden for the masses. Holland uses 4 fingerprints in the central database.
The database is set up to detect identity fraud with passports but can also be used in the investigation of serious crimes, and be accessed by the prosecutor and the secret service (AIVD).
This legal possibility is not mentioned on this website. Why not? Is there something to hide here? Transparency should be key here.
A (Dutch) Radio-interview of Bits of Freedom @ NCRV (18.09.2009) on this subject can be found on:
http://www.bof.nl/ncrv180909.mp3 (MP3)
More information can be found on:
http://vortex.uvt.nl/TILTblog/?p=89
The central database of Telecom data (CIOT) with both personal Internet and Telecom traffic data collected from all Dutch telecom and Internet providers is the subject of this thesis. Despite fierce reaction of a few professionals, nothing seems to be in the way of combining and data mining all this data, for ‘ all good purposes’.
A very good report (81 pages) on this subject (in Dutch) can be found on:
http://www.internetscriptieprijs.nl/downloads/scriptie_arnbak.pdf
Biometric Services International, LLC (BSI) Releases Latest Summary of Published and Emerging Biometric Standards.
Morgantown, WV – Biometric Services International (BSI) today announced the availability of its latest update of published and emerging biometric standards. Eleven new and/or updated standards were published since the last update issued in March 2009, bringing the total number of published standards to ninety-one (91).1 The report details these, along with another 80+ emerging standards currently under consideration.
The new satire program CQC is gathering fingerprints at a party with celebrities and many ministers of the Dutch government.
See this Dutch program (nr. 5 of Sep. 25) on the link of the title of this newsbyte and start at 39 min 40.
Dutch citizens living abroad, have big problems when they try to renew their old passport. Especially Dutch people living in big countries like Canada, Australia and Brazil sometimes must travel thousands of miles to get enrolled in the nearest Dutch embassy. There are consulates nearby, but you can’t get your fingerprints scanned there, because there are no fingerprint scanners in a consulate when the number of new issued passports is less then 500 per year. Because the passport is not made in the country of enrolment it takes up to 2 weeks to produce and distribute the new Biometric passport, so another trip has to be made for the second time to get the new passport.
Sydney, Australia – Today iOmniscient unveiled its newest technology development IQDriver Match.
The unique product offering integrates both Licence Plate Recognition and
Driver Identification technologies.
“We have developed IQ-Driver Match to anticipate the next evolution of Video Analytics Identification technology” said Dr Rustom Kanga, CEO of iOmniscient “We would like to be able to leverage our patented technologies to create applications relevant to our end user’s demands”
As concerns grow over security of online transactions, majority of Americans are willing to use biometric data such as fingerprints to ensure protection
BLUE BELL, Pa., October 20, 2009 – Only 22 percent of Americans fully trust government agencies to keep personal information secure and private, and the proportion is only slightly better (29 percent) with regard to trust in data protection by financial institutions such as banks, according to research conducted in September by Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS).
The findings, part of the latest bi-annual Unisys Security Index, also confirm that most Americans surveyed remain seriously concerned about the security and privacy of their personal information. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are either “extremely” or “very" concerned about identity theft and credit and debit card fraud (65% and 64%, respectively).
Americans who are seriously concerned about the security of their online transactions rose to 42 percent, the highest level since the Unisys Security Index began two years ago.
Sometimes elderly people have poor quality fingerprints that can’t be enrolled. If that is the case the new Biometric passport can’t be issued and an emergency passport will be given. This passport doesn’t have a chip and will expire after the journey with a maximum of one year. The cost is the same as an e-passport (which can be used for 5 years). When travelling to the US this emergency passport is not valid because there is no chip inside, so you need an extra VISA document. This VISA will cost about € 100 on top of the emergency passport. So elderly people with poor fingerprints will have big problems to get travel documents. For people older then 80 the change of poor enrolment is 5 to 10%, so all these people are treated as described above.
(People without fingers or hands can get a passport without a chip that can be used for 5 years.) So ironically, frequent travellers without hands are better off than people with poor quality fingerprints…
Users say HIIDE doesn’t meet requirements
U.S. forces have fielded more than 4,000 Polaroid camera-sized biometric detection devices that scan, track and identify potential terrorists, but Marine officials say they’re not happy with the system and are seeking a next-generation solution. The Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment devices were fielded in 2006 for use by U.S. forces during
neighborhood patrols. The camera scans fingerprints or irises in an effort to find insurgents. The devices connect to a remote Defense Department database called the Automated Biometric Information System, which gathers identification data from U.S. and coalition partners. “There are still a few being used in the Corps, but [operating forces] are not asking for any more,” Powell said. “They’re asking for something that meets the requirements.”
Biometrics company Sagem Sécurité and the Japanese engineering and information technology firm Hitachi, did unveil their biometric multi-modal finger vein and fingerprint device, Finger VP, at Biometrics 2009 in London this week.
The biometrics device combines Hitachi's Finger Vein imaging (VeinID) to detect the pattern of blood vessels under the skin, and Sagem Sécurité’s fingerprint identification technology (Morpho).
According to the vendors, it is the “only multi-modal device capable of simultaneously capturing and processing two sets of biometric data and can be used either for one-to-one or one-to-many verification”.
As the CEO of a biometrics company for just over two years now, and a technologist for life, I have watched with fascination the growing penetration of biometrics into the African market. It is truly a phenomenon to watch how third world counties can leapfrog first world ones through the adoption of emerging technologies at a rapid rate.
This growth is driven by the fact that there is no legacy system or investment to replace, thereby removing the natural reluctance of business and government to write off undepreciated and paid for infrastructure.
Sipho Ngcobo tells us why Capitec gets his stamp of approval.
It is amazing how one innovative company can fundamentally alter our understating of an industry. Capitec Bank is but one such innovative company. Companies that have attained these levels of service and performance are huge examples of how a group of people can work together to produce astonishing results.
It is the bank's innovative use of technology that pleasantly shocked me. Every transaction is paperless. Through the use of a biometric device clients are verified by using fingerprint scanning and face recognition ensuring that only the right client can transact.
MEDNET, a national leader in premium-quality medical supplies, has formed an exclusive partnership with Axius Healthcare Group to distribute MedSafe, a secure medical safe. Made of high-grade steel, MedSafe features a biometric fingerprint reader, so its contents are accessible only to the parent or person who programs the safe.
More deaths result from Rx Drugs than guns in the United States, yet most prescription and over the counter drugs are left unattended in homes across the country.
See more on this product (including video) on:
http://www.mednetdirect.com/The-Original-MedSafe-Sold-Exclusively-by-MEDNET-Direct-a/150.htm
DigitalPersona, a leading provider of fingerprint identity and authentication solutions, announced that WAND Corporation, a leading supplier of point-of-sale (POS) software for quick-service restaurants, has integrated DigitalPersona technology into their NextGen POS and Classic POS solutions. WAND's quick-service customers can now use fingerprint biometrics to boost cashier accountability and deter unauthorized manager overrides.
Australia Post is introducing new technology that will enable staff at its 4443 retail outlets to take digital signatures, fingerprints, and biometric scans from customers applying for bank accounts, passports and other services. Privacy advocates are worried the new system may create fresh opportunities for organized criminals to exploit weaknesses in the network.
Zetes, the international specialist in automatic goods and people identification solutions, has been appointed by the Belgian Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs to supply the equipment, biometric software, and technical support for the registration of the biometric data of applicants for visas and passports. These are to be installed at embassies, consulates, and border crossing points. The Zetes solution is a system of "live" enrolment, which allows to register a photo, the fingerprints and the digital signature (for passports) of applicants all at the same time.
The Chinese biometrics market is growing at a rate of 50% annually and could reach a market volume of over RMB 3 billion by 2010, according to Tieniu Tan, director, National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, CAS Institute of Automation and deputy secretary general, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Information technology spending at civilian agencies should climb significantly next year, but much of the money will be spent renewing or replacing existing contracts, according to a market research firm. The total value of the 20 largest federal IT projects in 2010 is 50 percent higher than the previous year, increasing from about $120 billion to $180 billion, according to a list compiled by INPUT and presented in a webinar on Tuesday. All but two of the projects are contracts that will be recompeted or are consolidations of existing pacts.
More on the $45 billion EAGLE II RFI:
http://www.dhs.gov/xopnbiz/opportunities/gc_1247758678529.shtm
DigitalPersona Shifts Authentication Responsibility From Individual Users to the Corporate Network
New DigitalPersona(R) Pro ID Server Software Enables Seamless 'Touch-and-Go' Authentication for Call Centers, Hospitals and other Enterprises
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct 06, 2009 -- DigitalPersona, Inc., a leader in fingerprint identity and authentication solutions, today expanded its suite of enterprise security software with the new DigitalPersona Pro ID Server. This software enables Microsoft Windows-based PCs and networks to recognize thousands of users in Active Directory solely by their fingerprint. The ID Server eliminates the need for users to remember and type login names or enter other forms of identification. This shifts the responsibility for securing access to critical resources from the user to the network, giving businesses greater control and security. The DigitalPersona Pro ID Server also simplifies provisioning and helpdesk support, allowing call centers, hospitals and other organizations to provide access to line-of-business applications more efficiently.
Many time-critical applications, such as electronic medical records software in hospitals, are accessed from kiosk-style computers by multiple people within an organization on an ongoing basis. The ID Server helps businesses cut the escalating burdens and risks posed by users who lose, forget or share usernames and passwords.
Biometrics Consortium Conference, Tampa Florida September 22-24, 2009
The program of the conference can be downloaded on: http://www.biometrics.org/bc2009/program.pdf
This document has almost all the presentations of this conference embedded. You can cherry pick with the program from 82 presentations !!
Authentication: The Biometrics Advantage
Interview with Myra Gray, Director, U.S. Army Biometrics Task Force
Though fingerprint and iris scans have advantages over passwords and magnetic identity cards as a means to grant access to IT systems, in many instances, the biometric technologies aren't ready to be employed alone, says Myra Gray, director of the U.S. Army's Biometrics Task Force. "Actually, it's an outstanding method for good, strong identity assurance," Gray said in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com. "But before we go throwing out passwords and usernames, I'd like to articulate that biometrics is one tool of many. It should be part of the portfolio that's used to protect against identity theft."
Hugh Chatham Adopts Star Trek Technology with the Use of Palm
MOORESVILLE, N.C., Oct 05, 2009 --With medical identity theft becoming a growing industry concern, Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital has chosen to implement Palm Identify, a software application developed by Biz Technology Solutions, Inc (BTS). The primary purpose of the new solution is to enhance patient security, while improving the patient admissions process. Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital located in the wine country of western NC. The hospital's current slogan is "Our Region's Choice for Technology and Care" and believes that being on the forefront of this new patient technology will only strengthen their statement.
More on palm recognition on: http://www.palmidentify.com/
Intel Eyes UID Project; to Ride on Biometrics, Computing Expertise
Leveraging its experience in the field of biometrics and leadership in the computing space, the world’s largest chip maker, Intel, hopes to attract a significant pie of the business that will arise from the Indian government’s Unique Identity (UID) project, which is headed by former Infosys head Nandan Nilekani. Biometrics (which includes fingerprint, face and iris recognition) and computing power hold the keys to Nilekani’s UID project. Which is estimated to offer a Rs 15,000-20,000 crore opportunity to computing, database, smartcard and storage vendors, besides systems integrators.
For every rupee of IT spend on the UID project, industry experts estimate, around 60 per cent of the spending will go to hardware vendors. “We have deeply thought about the project and how Intel can work with the Indian government on the project. We’ve also had a meeting with Nilekani in this regard.
However, since the project is in its infancy, I cannot comment on how our dialogue will eventually pan out,” Ramamurthy Sivakumar, managing director (sales and marketing - South Asia), told Business Standard.
Scans Of Eyes, Fingerprints Help Army Find Insurgents
The Army and Marines have fielded more than 4,000 Polaroid camera-sized biometric detection devices that scan, track and identify potential terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, service and industry officials said. U.S. forces use the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, or HIIDE, devices during neighborhood patrols. The camera scans fingerprints or irises in an effort to find insurgents. The devices connect to a remote Defense Department database called the Automated Biometric Information System, which gathers identification data from U.S. and coalition partners.
2012 Olympic site workers face biometric scans
LONDON— Workers on London's Olympic Park will have to go through biometric scanning
to access the 2012 Games site in a bid to protect it from terrorists, a newspaper reported Sunday. From this week, machines that have hand and iris recognition technology will be deployed at entry points around the 2.5-square-kilometre east London site, The Observer said. The weekly said the hand scanners could check up to 5,000 workers per hour at Europe's largest regeneration project, while the iris scanners would be used as an alternative if required. The decision to implement the measures was based on Britain's "years of experience in both tackling terrorism and hosting major sporting and cultural events", Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said.
Paratroopers Learn Battlefield Forensics
Arguably, the enemy's greatest asset on today's asymmetric battlefield of big Armies and small terror cells is his anonymity. Take away that, and there's nothing left that a slug, shell or
JDAM can't hit. Lacking anonymity, bad actors can't hide among good people, and the good guys win.
The nature of insurgencies has not changed, but what has changed is the ability to root them out. Using muscular computers and enormous databases, information analysts are better than ever at weaving together a flow of biometric data — mostly fingerprints —collected from the field to identify individual insurgents.
NIST Issues Guidelines on New Mobile Biometric Devices
First responders, police, the military and criminal justice organizations now have some "on the go" help. The new mobile biometric devices will allow them to collect biometric data and then compare it to other watch lists and data bases in real time. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has published its latest guidelines on those mobile devices.We asked Shahram Orandi, a computer scientist at NIST, about what got NIST interested in Mobile devices....
This 55 page publication can be found on:
http://fingerprint.nist.gov/mobileid/MobileID-BPRS-20090825-V100.pdf
Panel Recommends Improvements to E-Verify
The Internet-based E-Verify system is operated jointly by the Homeland Security Departmentand the Social Security Administration. It allows employers to check an individual’s Social Security Number to determine whether the number is valid. However, the system is not designed to detect stolen or borrowed Social Security numbers, although DHS has added some photographs to the database to help stop identity frauds. To reduce those errors, the report recommends
starting a secure national identification system with biometric data, such as secure Social
Security cards or driver’s licenses that contain biometric data, along with a personal identification number system such as is used in automatic teller machines.
NIST Iris Exchange Evaluation Judges VeriEye 2.1 as Most Reliable for Accuracy, Speed
Neurotechnology, a provider of high-precision biometric fingerprint, face and iris identification algorithms, object recognition technology and software development products announced that their VeriEye iris identification technology is intended for biometric systems developers and integrators. The technology includes many proprietary solutions that enable robust eye iris enrollment under various conditions and fast iris matching in 1-to-1 and “1-to-many” modes.
NIST Iris Exchange Evaluation has reportedly tested this state of the art of algorithm and has judged VeriEye 2.1 as one of the most reliable iris recognition technology. VeriEye is also ranked one among the top three for accuracy and, of the top three, the fastest matching algorithm by a wide margin.
More on the NIST Iris Exchange program on:
http://iris.nist.gov/
The VeriEye 14 page brochure can be found on:http://www.neurotechnology.com/download/VeriEye_SDK_Brochure_2009-10-05.pdf
New Danish passport enrolment for (almost) free.
The supplier ScanTech (a local 1-man company) is setting up biometric stations in the municipalities of Denmark for use when making passports, drivers license and other id-cards of various applications. He has installed them and servicing them free of charge - but takes a click fee for each card photo. Take a look at the video on:
http://www.tvsyd.dk/smil-til-varde-kommune
The video is in Danish, but is self explaining I think.
Chips in Official IDs Raise Privacy Fears
Climbing into his Volvo, outfitted with a Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader he’d bought on eBay for $190, with this objective: To read the identity cards of strangers, wirelessly, without ever leaving his car. It took him 20 minutes to strike hacker’s gold.
Zipping past Fisherman’s Wharf, his scanner downloaded to his laptop the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians’ electronic U.S. passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he’d “skimmed” four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet.
Critics warn that RFID-tagged identities will enable identity thieves and other criminals to commit “contactless” crimes against victims who won’t immediately know they’ve been violated.
Check the video on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isKnDiJNPk
Getting Your Fingerprints On Windows 7
Windows 7 is the first operating system from Microsoft to have biometrics as part of the core package. The way it works is that any fingerprint reader or other biometric tool simply has to conform to the WBF. This should quickly eliminate incompatible middleware problems that have caused issues in the past for IT Departments trying to increase network security by using biometrics.
More on Microsoft WBF on:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/biometric/WBFIntro.mspx
One Card to Rule Them All
Starting July 2010, national identity cards, labor cards and residency permits will merge into a single card, reducing the bureaucratic hell residents endure to become legal in the UAE.
Today, residents need to fill out three application forms and pay three different fees to get their papers sorted. “That’s too much,” said al-Khouri.
Police to Use Mobile Biometric Scanners and Credit Card Readers
The London Metropolitan Police wants to buy £3m of handheld units for law enforcement agencies that would be capable of capturing iris, facial, and fingerprint biometrics as well as reading chips held on credit cards and passports.
SOFTPRO Customer CECA Receives TeleTrusT Innovation Award 2009 for E-Signing In Spanish Savings Banks
TeleTrusT, the German IT security association, has awarded the "TeleTrusT Innovation Award 2009" to the Spanish Savings Banks Organization (Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorros, CECA) for the use of SignPads for digitizing of handwritten signatures in Spanish savings banks. With this award, the jury honored, the idea of combining the benefits of biometric signatures and cryptographic techniques in their application "Firma Digitalizada".
Detecting Forged Signatures Using Pen Pressure and Angle
Researcher Songhua Xu presented an idea for measuring pen angle and pressure to present beautiful flower-like visual versions of a handwritten signature.
You could argue that signatures are already a visual form, nicely identifiable and universal. However, with the added data about pen pressure and angle, the authors were able to create visual signatures that offer potentially greater security, assuming you can learn to read them.
The top row shows how a person's genuine signature produces the same "lily" every time.
The second shows that even good visual forgeries are easily spotted with a quick glance at the new representation.
One way of obtaining proof of identity is to use digital pads that capture people's signatures.
These pads capture not only the shape of the mark, but also the speed at which it was written and the pressure applied at different points.
Songhua Xu at Zhejiang University, China, and colleagues at the University of Hong Kong have developed a way to digest that information into a digital "lily", to allow quick but robust comparisons.
FBI Delves into DMV Photos in Search for Fugitives
RALEIGH, N.C. – In its search for fugitives, the FBI has begun using facial-recognition technology on millions of motorists, comparingdriver's license photos with pictures of convicts in a high-tech analysis of chin widths and nose sizes. The project in North Carolina has already helped nab at least one suspect. Agents are eager to look for more criminals and possibly to expand the effort nationwide. But privacy advocates worry that the method allows authorities to track people who have done nothing wrong.
Biometrics and the TSA
Airline travellers are quite used to metal detectors and x-ray machines by now. And they may be getting used to what I call “the puffing thing,” but is referred to as a trace portal machine by the TSA. (That’s the device that you walk into, and it puffs air at you, analyzes bits of debris it has dislodged, and lets you go on your merry way.) Travellers are probably not yet used to the millimetres wave scanner, which I experienced over the weekend in DC.
In Darbishan, Afghanistan, Abdul Razak, 18, who lives in a simple mud brick hut in a cornfield, is having his eyes scanned by a U.S. Marine sergeant. Razak is not an "individual of interest," or suspected insurgent, but Marines say keeping biometric data will enable them to track who lives nearby and build an informal census.
TASCET Adds ID Protection Expertise to Center for Identity Management and Information Protection
UTICA, N.Y. - Utica College's Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP) welcomes its newest stakeholder, TASCET Identity Network.
An identity and privacy protection firm specializing in identification, TASCET adds a new facet to the range of expertise among CIMIP stakeholders. Unlike systems that rely on the verification of identity documents such as birth certificates or Social Security cards, TASCET identifies the individual. Verifying documents does not identify individuals because the process does not confirm that the person presenting them is the same individual to whom the documents were issued; nor does it protect individuals from identity fraud. TASCET's secure infrastructure prevents individuals from fraudulently using multiple identities within different organizations, whether at state agencies, financial institutions or medical facilities. TASCET protects the privacy of individuals by preventing another individual from using their personal information to open bank accounts, apply for employment, receive medical care or obtain an identification credential.
Cross Match Broadens Mobile Biometric Solutions
Cross Match Technologies, a global provider of biometric identity solutions, introduced its latest mobile solution at the Biometric 2009 Exhibition and Conference in Westminster, London. Be.U e-Passport, which is optimized for use at border checkpoints and immigration offices, was shown during the U.K.-based conference.
Don't be late to work! The biometric attendance system may be closer home than most government officials expected.
The Ministry of Home Affairs attendance system is just a month old but it has already won itself a bunch of admirers. Several government departments are hoping to emulate Home Minister P Chidambaram's project to get the bureaucracy to report on time. Chidambaram had introduced the attendance system last month that requires all officials to place their finger on the fingerprint scanner to mark the time when they reach office, and when they leave in the evening.
Unisys announced that its Australian subsidiary has received contract extensions from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for the current engagements where Unisys provides outsourced desktop services, and biometric and identity management solutions. The extension will allow DIAC to purchase up to approximately AUD$2.9 million (USD$2.3 million) of biometric identity services from Unisys.
LaserCard Corporation, a leading provider of secure ID solutions, joins other industry members in recognizing the Government of Angola's launch of its new citizen ID card. The secure, wallet-size ID cards, which store personal and biometric identification, will be issued to Angolan citizens nationwide.
Mona Lisa has something new to smile about.
A portrait of a young woman thought to be created by a 19th century German artist and sold two years ago for about $19,000 is now being attributed by art experts to Leonardo da Vinci and valued at more than $150 million.
The unsigned chalk, ink and pencil drawing, known as "La Bella Principessa," was matched to Leonardo via a technique more suited to a crime lab than an art studio — a fingerprint and palm print found on the 13 1/2-inch-by-10-inch work. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said the print of an index or middle finger matched a fingerprint found on Leonardo's "St. Jerome" in the Vatican.
Biro examined multispectral images of the drawing taken by the Lumiere Technology laboratory in Paris, which used a special digital scanner to show successive layers of the work. "Leonardo used his hands liberally and frequently as part of his painting technique. His fingerprints are found on many of his works," Biro said. "I was able to make use of multispectral images to make a little smudge a very readable fingerprint."
OTTAWA —Calling asylum seekers a "vulnerable group," Canada's privacy commissioner expressed concern Friday about a new government plan to share fingerprint information with Britain and Australia to combat immigration fraud.
The three-country agreement was announced Friday with little fanfare, with Canada and the two countries providing assurances that no one's privacy would be violated and that no database for the prints would be created. A lawyers' group in Australia also raised privacy concerns about the plan, which the United States and New Zealand were expected to join later on. The new agreement allows countries to check each other's fingerprint databases but doesn't give them unfettered access.
Cyprus's interior ministry expects to unveil a 3.2 million euro biometric passport project in 2010, reports the daily Phileleftheros. The scheme had originally been planned for 2007 but was delayed despite an EU directive requiring all Member States to offer their citizens the facility. The passports will include a microchip, which will store an individual’s fingerprints, facial image and electronic signature. The harmonised introduction of biometric identifiers in passports of EU citizens will also ensure that the identity of the holder can be easily established and will protect against identity fraud.
Tens of thousands of subscribers to a registered air traveler program, who were left feeling scammed when the company offering the service abruptly went out of business, may soon get a break. Henry Inc., an investment group based in Emeryville, Calif., has signed a letter of intent with Morgan Stanley, the defunct company's largest debt holder, to buy the assets of Verified Identity Pass Inc. (VIP) and restart the Clear fast-lane security service.
Zvetco Biometrics and Realtime Form Partnership
Zvetco Biometrics Announced that Its Verifi Line of Fingerprint Biometric Readers Are Now Compatible with Realtime's BioLock Software. This Integration Enables Biometric Authentication and Fraud Mitigation for SAP Applications for Government and Commercial Applications.
India Working On Standard for Biometrics
The need for standards and concerns over security and privacy were highlighted recently, as the Indian government prepares to roll out various e-government projects based on biometrics. "The industry, government and academia need to collaborate to evolve standards for biometrics," Nandita Jain Mahajan, IBM's India South chief privacy and information security office, said during the India Preparatory Meeting: Biometrics and Data Protection.
Facial Recognition Face-off: Three Tools Compared
Last week's Picasa software update from Google brought with it a neat trick--facial recognition. But it wasn't the first free consumer photo-editing software to find faces. In January, Apple unveiled the latest version of iLife, which included an updated version of iPhoto that could detect and recognize faces in your photos. And this time last year, Microsoft released an updated version of its Windows Live Photo Gallery desktop software that could find faces inside of photos, though it couldn't (and still can't) recognize who's in them. So, how do these three stack up? To figure that out, we put them to the test.
Bates County Memorial Hospital Integrates Fujitsu PalmSecure Biometric Solution Into New Time and Attendance System
Fujitsu Frontech North America, Inc., a leading supplier of computer products including peripherals and biometric security solutions, announced that Bates County Memorial Hospital in Butler, Mo. is using the Fujitsu PalmSecure palm vein authentication solution for its time and attendance system. PalmSecure will replace Bates County Memorial's existing fingerprint-based biometric time and attendance system as a more reliable, hygienic, secure authentication solution that is easily integrated into the existing system.
FBI Celebrates 10 Years of IAFIS
CLARKSBURG -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS. A ceremony was held at the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services division. Processing fingerprints before the IAFIS was a labor-intensive program ...and could take more than 110 days to fill criminal requests and 90 days for civilian requests, said Senior Level Technologist James A Loudermilk II. Today, IAFIS does the job in two hours for criminals and 24 hours for civilians, and can process an average of 200,000 fingerprints a day.
CJIS is currently working on a new identification system called Next Generation Identification, or Next Generation Identification that will add paw prints, face prints, and Iris prints to the database. Watch the video on:
http://www.boomboxradio.net/boombox/PlayerSetup/Players/WBOYPlayer.aspx?FileId=215393_wboy
EU's Biometric Database Effectively Manages the Common European Asylum System
The 2008 annual report on the activities of EURODAC (the EU wide biometric tool which
helps determine which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum claim), has been published by the European Commission. The report gives essential information on patterns of asylum seeking and illegal entry in the EU, and shows a sharp increase in the number of persons apprehended in connection with irregular crossing of the EU external border.
The report can be downloaded on:
http://soderkoping.org.ua/files/pages/25762/1.pdf
Losing touch has its benefits
Of all the biometric solutions offered by technology companies, those involving fingerprint authentication are regarded as the most mature and best understood by passengers. However, while existing systems have a proven track record, they also have known limitations. Nevertheless, emerging touchless fingerprint technology may well go a long way towards eliminating some of the problems inherent in these solutions.
TST Biometrics is overseeing an access control pilot scheme at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, where its contactless fingerprint scanner is used to control movements of staff between public and restricted areas.
Global Travel Standard for Document Security and New EPassport Initiative to be created by INTERPOL
MONTREAL, — INTERPOL has announced that the design and production of the world's biggest police organization's first e-passport will be created and manufactured by the EDAPS Consortium. State-of-the-art technology will set new standards in document security for the Heads of INTERPOL's 187 National Central Bureaus (NCBs), Executive Committee members and staff from its General Secretariat headquarters. The provision of a secure, globally recognized INTERPOL e-passport to the Heads of NCBs is aimed at ensuring that they can travel freely internationally in order to assist in the apprehension or transfer of fugitives.
The RAPIDGate Program Enhances Security at Naval Air Facility El Centro Thorough Screening and Streamlined Access for Vendors
PORTLAND, Ore., Sep 29, 2009 -- Naval Air Facility El Centro has implemented the
RAPIDGate(R) Program to increase security and streamline access for the thousands of vendors, suppliers, service providers and contractors who access the base. The RAPIDGate Program, a product of Portland, OR-based Eid Passport, Inc., is an identity management and access control program. The program includes company enrollment; employee registration; employment status validation; identity authentication; background screening; biometric verification; and entry authorization for vendor, supplier, service provider and contractor employees that are not authorized a Common Access Card (CAC).
Touchless 3-D Fingerprinting
A new non-contact, 3-D fingerprinting system could make spotting the bad guys faster and
easier, whether it’s at the border or the police precinct. By projecting patterns of light onto a
finger and analyzing the image, researchers from the University of Kentucky are able to create a more accurate print than those made with ink or sensor plates. The researchers say the system is more efficient than traditional fingerprinting and significantly reduces the number of incorrect matches. “Fingerprinting has been widely applied identify criminals in forensic law enforcement and security applications,” says Yongchang Wang, a PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky, and lead author of a paper on the fingerprinting research. But traditional techniques, Wang says, don’t make it easy to gather accurate, detailed prints. Even the modern approach,
in which the subject’s finger is rolled over a glass plate for scanning, often requires several attempts per finger to get a usable print. The glass also must be cleaned after each scan. And capturing prints of all 10 fingers can take several minutes.
DHS Awards Parabon NanoLabs SBIR Grant to Develop Portable DNA Biometric Device Goal to Verify Identity and Kinship Rapidly and Inexpensively
RESTON, Va., Sep 30, 2009 -- Parabon NanoLabs (PNL), a leading designer and manufacturer of breakthrough, nano-enabled products, announced today its award of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant. The funds will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the company's new single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) "SNP chip" (pronounced "snip chip") to rapidly verify identity and kinship using DNA.
The goal is to design a briefcase-size biometrics device that will process a DNA sample and determine identity or kinship with an accuracy of 99.99%, in under 45 minutes, at a cost of less than $50.
L-1 Identity Solutions Receives $6.2 Million Task Order for HIIDE (TM)
STAMFORD, Conn., Oct 01, 2009 -- L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of identity solutions and services, received a new $6.2 million task order for HIIDE mobile biometric recognition devices to be deployed in areas of conflict as part of an existing customer agreement. Approximately half of the order is expected to ship in the fourth quarter with the remaining units expected to ship in the first half of 2010. The order was received by the Biometrics Division of L-1(R). HIIDE is the world's first ruggedized tri-modal mobile biometric enrolment and recognition device providing real-time identification using iris, finger and face biometrics. First introduced in 2005, it is the most pervasive device of its kind with over 10,000 devices fielded into areas of global conflict. It is also the most widely deployed multi-modal device with defence agencies.
Biometrics, Fingerprints, and Spoofing at Next Clarkson University Science Cafe
Biometrics, Fingerprints, and Spoofing will be discussed and demonstrated by Clarkson University Professor of Electric and Computer Engineering
Stephanie Schuckers at the next Science Café at Jack & Wezzie’s Coffee House (formerly Fields Coffee House) in Potsdam this Wednesday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m. In describing her presentation, Schuckers says;
"Biometric devices, such as fingerprint, face, iris and voice recognition, may someday replace security codes and photo IDs. But while biometrics may improve the security of everything from credit card transactions and personal computers to airports and borders, biometric systems are also vulnerable to ’spoofing’ or being fooled through fake samples such as artificial fingers."
Case Study: K-Rep Bank - A Bank is Born
What started life as a USAID-funded project to support Kenyan NGOs has now evolved into a fully-fledged commercial bank. But K-Rep Bank still has microfinance at the heart of its business. James Ling reports. ‘Our reason for being is microfinance,’ says Kasaine Ole Pertet, IT general manager atK-Rep Bank, ‘we look at commercial banking as a way of sustaining that’. The bank started out in 1984 as a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support Kenyan Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) involved in SME development by providing grants and technical support. Three years later it became an NGO in its own right, and in 1989 it started its lending business, both to organisations and to individuals through microloans. When it comes to POS, K-Rep has gone down the biometric route. It uses fingerprint identification to capture data on loan payments. This sort of technology is particularly useful for the bank to stop fraud and ensure that the groups which it has lent money to are meeting regularly.
Ghana to Issue Biometric Passports by April Next Year
Foreign Minister Alhaji Muhammed Mummuni has given the strongest hint ever that all Ghanaian passport holders will from April next year be migrated onto a new machine readable biometric passport. During an interaction with Ghanaians in Washington, Alhaji Mumumi said the advanced security features of the new biometric passport will not only help protect the identity of citizens, it will also eliminate the possibility of fraudsters acquiring a Ghanaian passport when they are not citizens.
Airport Consortium Working to Develop Industry Standard for Biometric Access Control
In an attempt to prevent the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from imposing
government-mandated access control standards, the airline industry has decided to form the Biometric Airport Security Identification Consortium, or BASIC. The goal of the consortium is to create a framework from which the nation's airports can adopt a biometric-enabled access control system for its employees.
Codebench Integrates PIVCheck Software with MorphoTrak Fixed Readers
Codebench, a leading provider of TWIC / HSPD-12 / FIPS-201 authentication software, announced that it has formed a technology partnership with MorphoTrak (Safran group), specialists in large fingerprint identification systems and biometric technology readers. Codebench's PIVCheck software suite, an end-to-end card validation, authentication and registration solution for HSPD-12 compliance, now supports the MA520 PIV fixed reader and the MSO 1350e, a USB combination smart card reader and fingerprint sensor.
Panasonic Offers U.are.U Fingerprint Sensor From DigitalPersona On Stingray JS-950 Point-of-Sale Workstations
DigitalPersona, a leader in fingerprint identity and authentication solutions, announced that Panasonic System Solutions Company is now offering U.are.U fingerprint sensors from DigitalPersona as a field-upgradeable option on Panasonic's modular point-of-sale (POS) workstation, the Stingray JS-950. The fingerprint sensor is in a modular case that can be attached to either side of the Panasonic Stingray display screen.
Jail Steps Up Screening For Illegal Immigrants
Prince William Virginia regional jail officials have joined a federal system to tighten their screening of inmates' immigration status and potentially deport those in the United States illegally. Booking officials at the jail simply run the fingerprints of an arrestee simultaneously through the FBI and Homeland Security systems; one largely identifies a person's criminal activity, and the other better identifies immigration status.
Sensometrix Commercializes the SensoBrain
Sensometrix commercializes the SensoBrain technology under license throughout the world. The SensoBox is the only biometric vein reader in the world using the SensoBrain technology. The original image of the palm veins is encrypted and is accessible neither to Sensometrix nor to the company managing the accesses of its employees and partners.
More on sensobrain: http://www.sensometrix.ch/en/sensobrain
Facial Recognition Guards Premises
'You can never read someone's mind' believing this fact Face Recognition Solution has now introduced its creative product Visitor Management System to the world.
Review: Facial Recognition In Apple's iPhoto
Apple Inc. is taking facial recognition biometrics to the masses by including the technology in the latest version of iPhoto, the computer company's photo management software. iPhoto is one of a suite of products in iLife, which includes movie, audio and Web design tools.
HRS Showcases Advances In Iris Biometric Applications and Mobile Biometrics at Biometrics 2009
Human Recognition Systems (HRS) will be exhibiting at Biometrics 2009 in London's Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. Jim Slevin, the company's aviation specialist, will be speaking on the challenges of iris enrolment in large commercial environments.
Top-Three US Bank Chooses CIC Electronic Signature Technology
Communication Intelligence Corporation ("CIC"), a leading supplier of electronic signature solutions for business process automation in the financial industry and a provider of biometric signature verification technology announced that a top-three U.S. bank will deploy CIC electronic signature technology in a branch-wide rollout including several thousand recently acquired branches.
Delfigo Extends Keyboard Biometrics to the iPhone
Delfigo Security has extended its keyboard biometrics capabilities from PCs and laptops to mobile devices, the first being the iPhone. Delfigo's technology is, in a sense, a hybrid, in that it can involve some degree of active involvement on the part of the customer when the system initially builds a profile of their keyboard usage (measuring the end-user's keyboard typing rhythms as well as capturing other factors such as system, device and geospatial parameters). The system requires seven examples of the person's typing to build the profile.
Building a Better Password
Companies spend billions of dollars protecting their computer systems, and passwords are a linchpin. With so much riding on Americans' faulty passwords, there has to be a better way to make our technology secure-and it's taking shape inside Carnegie Mellon University's cyber-security-research department.
This is where Carnegie Mellon wows its visitors, with toys that can read a person's fingerprint from across the room, reverse-engineer a 3-D model of a face from a simple 2-D snapshot, and recognize a moving iris at 13 meters.
Biometric technology identifies people from a distance (video).
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon university are working on a mix of face and iris recognition that can recognise people from distances up to 50 paces.
Watch the video by clicking the header of this news. (The first 30 seconds is a commercial).
Interpol is pushing for integration with Schenger III databases.
The agency is pushing for integration with several existing and emerging criminal record networks, including the European Union's Schengen III and a Middle East database lead by Jordan to keep tabs on convicted terrorists, however it faces some contention, Branchflower says, with countries arguing some Interpol services are redundant given the emergence of the bloc-based networks.
Inclusion of the Schengen laws into the European Union is very complicated, see picture below. Integration of Databases will be proportionally difficult.
Biometrics Hazard: A Damaging Perception
Everything was good and many people welcomed the use of biometrics until one day somebody's mind starting to have a schizophrenic moment. What if the machine has radiation? Could I get cancer? What if somebody before me has an infectious disease, would I get it too if I touched the machine after him? Would I be prone to blindness if the machine read my eyes everyday? Could I miscarry if I used this machine?
Sagem Securite Ranked #1 by NIST In Portal Challenge tests.
The National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) has published the preliminary results of the Portal Challenge tests in its Multiple Biometric Grand Challenge. Sagem Securite (SAFRAN Group) is ranked No.1 in face recognition, No.1 in iris recognition and No.1 in combined recognition for these two biometric technologies.
The NIST website presenting these results can be found on: http://face.nist.gov/mbgc/
The complete NIST report (a 36 page ppt) on the Portal Challenge tests is available at: http://face.nist.gov/mbgc/FINAL_PORTAL_MBGC_Workshop2_v2.ppt
Harmony XB5S Biometric Switch
Schneider Electric, world leader in control and signalling components, and Sagem Sécurité (SAFRAN group), a leader in biometric identification solutions, have combined their expertise to create a new security solution for industrial environments: the Harmony biometric switch XB5S.
The biometrics integrated in the switch combines user-friendliness (no key, badge or password that can be lost, forgotten, stolen or copied) with a high level of protection (unique access using fingerprint recognition).
More (brochures and video) on this product can be found on the website of Schneider:
http://www.schneider-electric.com/sites/corporate/en/home.page
Oberthur Says On-card Comparison Biometrics Meets NIST Criteria
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) just published the results of Phase III of the MINEX II program. MINEX II evaluates the performances of fingerprint matching algorithms running on smart cards.
The main advantage of On-Card Comparison is to enhance security and user privacy since the reference biometric data never leaves the card. It provides a very secure way of authenticating the card holder. Oberthur Technologies/id3 On-Card comparison is one of two technologies that have successfully met NIST criteria.
The full (34 pages) Minex II report can be downloaded on: http://fingerprint.nist.gov/minexII/minex_report.pdf
Abrupt Closure of Airport Fast-lane Program Sparks Concern Over Customer Data
A company that collected detailed personal information including biometric data on 260,000 individuals as part of a registered air traveller program it operated, has abruptly gone out of business, leaving many customers wondering about the safety and privacy of their personal data. Verified Identity Pass Inc. (VIP) has signed up more than 260,000 travellers since its 2005 inception and processed more than 2.5 million fliers through its Clear lanes.
This is not the first time that privacy concerns related to Verified Identity have surfaced. Last year, the company lost a laptop containing unencrypted personal data on 33,000 individuals, prompting the TSA to temporarily stop it from registering new customers for Clear. Also look at: Defunct Airport Fast Pass Company Can't Sell Customer Data
TigerIT Is Ranked In the Top Three In the NIST AFIS Benchmark Battle
Bangladesh software development has set yet another landmark by being the first country in the region to develop an NIST certified AFIS SDK.
Results can be found on:
http://fingerprint.nist.gov/PFT/index.html
The test results were published by NIST on the 29th of June. The results place TigerAFIS in the tier-1 top five NIST AFIS group with NEC, Cogent, Sagem and L1.
Plans Dropped for Compulsory ID Cards
The British government said it was dropping plans to bring in compulsory biometric identity cards for airport workers and that the multi-billion pound scheme would remain voluntary.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the government was going ahead with the introduction of the 30 pound cards, which contain personal details, a facial image and fingerprints, but ruled out making them compulsory.
"Holding an identity card should be a personal choice for British citizens -- just as it is now to obtain a passport," Johnson said in a written parliamentary statement.
Biometric Lock with USB Data Export
BrickHouse Security says that their USB Fingerprint lock is taking the standard biometric door lock to a whole new level. This electronic lock has a USB port that you can use to export an access report to a USB flash drive. It will tell you who has been entering and exiting, and when, and they say that it is perfect for smaller organizations.
These door locks sell for $699,-
For more information check the website:
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/door-access-control.html
Biometric Passport Database Adds Atos Origin to Mix
Atos Origin will provide support to the integration of systems for the new UK biometric passport database, and for controversial identity cards. Under a new seven year deal, the services firm will be a subcontractor to IBM, which inked a £265 million contract in April with the Identity and Passport Service. The database will hold fingerprints and facial images. IBM and Atos Origin will work on the fingerprint database for the UK Border Agency's Immigration and Asylum system, until it is eventually completely replaced by the new biometric passport database. The news came only weeks after the Conservative party contacted suppliers warning them that if it won the next general election it would scrap the scheme.
Renowned Swiss Bank Uses High-security Biometric Identity Control with LEGIC
Since its first introduction onto the European market in Spring 2004, vein biometrics has received increasing attention: The VP-II "vein scanner" of the LEGIC partner RTC checks identity based on the vessel pattern on the back of the hand. The biometric data (210 Bytes) can be stored on a LEGIC credential. The first installation of this kind was recently put into operation by a Swiss bank located in Zurich. Normal key technology with keys and code entry was re-equipped to SEVA 3D and redundant lock motors.
Diebold Launches Self-serve Vault Access
Diebold announced the introduction of its Electronic Vault Attendant Elite, a dual-controlled vault and safe-deposit box access for financial institutions. Diebold says the EVA Elite is a self-service solution that relies on identity management, biometrics and access control to offer secure customer access to safe-deposit boxes without the need for a vault attendant.
For more information visit:
http://www.diebold.com/dnpssec/financial/solutions/eva/default.htm
India to Issue All 1.2 Billion Citizens with Biometric ID Cards
The Indian government has announced that it is to issue all of its 1.2 billion citizens with biometric identity cards. The Government has said that the first cards will be issued within 18 months.
It is surely the biggest Big Brother project yet conceived. India is to issue each of its citizens, millions of whom live in remote villages and possess no documentary proof of existence, with cyber-age biometric identity cards.
Project Natal
One of the reasons that Microsoft got such buzz for Project Natal is because it is so easy to see how the technology could change the face of gaming. But it's even easier to appreciate once you get a chance to try the gesture recognition technology yourself.
It combines 3D body movement detection with voice recognition. Try this movie for a start:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_txF7iETX0
Or the Xbox site (have patience) on:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/
Chinese Women Face Facial Difficulties
A group of Chinese women who travelled to South Korea for cosmetic surgery baffled immigration officers on their return home when their new looks did not match their passport photos. The 23 women, who were aged between 36 and 54, had bigger eyes, higher noses and slimmer chins than shown in their passports.
Will a National ID Card Prevent Identity Theft?
By itself a national ID card will not prevent all forms of identity theft. However, if a number of other factors come into play that will effectively associate the credited with credit, meaning there is a factual amount of accountability through identity proofing, then yes, new account fraud as it relates to identity theft can be averted. Identity proofing means proving identity, that someone is who they say they are. There are a few ways to do this and much of identity proofing begins with knowledge based authenticating questions coupled with documentation that may work towards verifying who is who. Once a person is proofed, a biometric feature such as a finger print or iris scan may be captured.
For more information on the Real-ID card, download the 205 page document on:
http://www.dhs.gov/files/laws/gc_1172765386179.shtm
Man with 25 IDs Nabbed by Face-recognition Tech
Thanks to a facial identification system, an Indiana man was caught attempting to gain his 11th different drivers license in that state. He allegedly had all the correct paperwork and then posed for his photograph. However, in the evening after his application was approved, the photograph passed through the new facial recognition system, which spotted a remarkable similarity with 10 other licenses. He was charged with forgery and is currently incarcerated.
Biometrics Data Is Vulnerable, Warn Experts
Industry forecasters say the market for biometric data-collection systems will double or triple in size over the next five years. But storing the data on both government and privately owned computers poses an increasing threat to individual privacy and opens up new frontiers in identity theft, say security experts.
Police In N.Y. Use Biometrics System to Secure Weapons
A city police officer wanting a Taser or rifle to take on patrol will only get the weapon after providing a thumbprint for identification. The police department's new LEID Biometric Access Control System reads the print before unlocking the weapon for the officer to grab. Now, when one of the department's 124 officers checks out a weapon, there's a computer record of who has taken the weapon and when it's returned.
Sarnoff Chosen by Global Animal Management to Develop the First Portable Equine Iris Capture and Identification System
Sarnoff Corporation announced it has been selected by Global Animal Management, Inc. (GAM) to develop the first portable equine iris capture and identification system to help identify and track horses. Based on Sarnoff's Iris on the Move (IOM) technology, the system will quickly capture a horse's iris image with a low visibility infrared light source from a distance, even while the animal is moving. In this way, the horse is not disturbed or unnecessarily stressed as is common using today's methods of identification which often involve tattooing and manually checking marks on horses.
IEEE Certified Biometrics Professional (CBP) Program
The IEEE Certified Biometrics ProfessionalTM (CBP) program was established to identify individuals who have demonstrated mastery of the IEEE CBP body of knowledge. The program was developed based on input and guidance from a wide variety of subject-matter experts representing industry, government, and academia. By earning the IEEE CBP credential, individuals will demonstrate that they have the competencies deemed essential for professionals in the biometrics field.
The IEEE CBP program has officially launched and the program website is live. You can view the website by visiting www.IEEEBiometricsCertification.org.
Download this 24 page brochure on: http://www.ieeebiometricscertification.org/ieee-cbp-certification/IEEE_CBP_2009_Candidate_Bulletin.pdf
Picasa 3.5 Brings Facial Recognition to the Desktop
Roughly a year after rolling out facial recognition on its Picasa Web Albums site, Google on is introducing an updated version of its Picasa software (for Windows | Mac) that can recognize faces in photos stored on users' computers. Just as it does on the Web, Picasa scans your photos for faces, then groups together photos of specific people.
Dutch Citizens Face Lack of Transparency About the Use of Their Biometric Data
In the Netherlands, the large scale registration of citizens' biometric data is at a relatively advanced stage. The Passport Act recently passed in the Dutch Parliament has given the Agency BPR BZK the green light for building a central registration system that will hold personal data including Dutch citizens' face- and finger scans (4 fingers). The database is set up to detect identity fraud with passports but can also be used in the investigation of serious crimes, and be accessed by the prosecutor and the secret service (AIVD). Only a few groups and individuals seemed to be concerned about this development. Their objections focus on violation of civil rights.
FBI Building System that Blows Away Fingerprinting
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expanding beyond its traditional fingerprint-focused collection practices to develop a new biometrics system that will include DNA records, 3-D facial imaging, palm prints and voice scans, blended to create what's known as "multi-modal biometrics." "The FBI today is announcing a rapid DNA initiative," said Louis Grever, executive assistant director of the FBI's science and technology branch, during his keynote presentation at the recent Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa.
NIST IREX Evaluation Judges VeriEye 2.1 One of the Most Reliable In Iris Recognition
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has judged Neurotechnology as the provider of one of the most reliably accurate iris recognition algorithms in a test of leading providers. The NIST Iris Exchange (IREX) Evaluation judged eighteen state-of-the-art algorithms from ten different providers and found VeriEye 2.1 to be in the top three for accuracy and, of the top three, the fastest matching algorithm by a wide margin.
The complete NIST IREX report is available at: http://iris.nist.gov/irex.
